"THE LIGHTHOUSE, THE CAT, AND THE SEA"

A TROPICAL TALE

by Leigh W. Rutledge ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

The author of Diary of a Cat (1995, etc.) returns with a suspense tale. This time, the cat, born on the schooner Estella Gomez as it sailed the straits of Florida in 1899, is the never-betrothed Mrs. Moore, a kindly, dignified feline (now 31 years old!) whose voice is not unlike that of A Passage to India's Mrs. Moore and who, quite secretly, reads Kipling and Proust. Her ancestry goes back to the pirate Jean Lafitte and even to Shakespeare. Mrs. Moore loves her days and nights at sea, especially after a Caribbean storm sweeps her overboard and she's washed ashore on an enchanted island (it turns out to be Key West), where her main companions are her frail brother, Fafner (Wagner's giant?), and the lighthouse keeper's son, Griffin, an eccentric child with a heart as deep and dark as the sea. Griffin's widowed mother, Mary, tends the lighthouse. The rest is episodic mini-adventures about palm trees and shrimp, the friendly Revered Neighbor, and the amazing recovery of the frail cook from the sunken Estella Gomez, who is adopted by Fafner. Superior whimsy, nicely told, and perfect for the cat-fancier's Christmas.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999

ISBN: ---

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1999

Categories: FICTION