From My Shelf
Now
is the perfect time to lounge in a hammock, sip an iced tea and
cuddle up with fictions about furry, four-legged canine companions. Lily
and the Octopus by Steven Rowley--a funny, moving novel about an aging and
infirm dachshund who changes one man's life--has become a literary sensation.
There
are many other dog-centric novels about unforgettable fictionalized pooches, as
well:
In A
Man of His Own by
Susan Wilson, a WWII veteran, Rick
Stanton, returns home, broken in body and spirit. When Rick and his wife are
reunited with their beloved dog, Pax, a rescued German shepherd-mix who was
later volunteered to serve in a K-9 military unit, a tug-of-war for the dog
ensues between Rick and Pax's devoted handler from the front lines.
Two dogs--Dante, a super-smart Border collie,
and Sissy, a sweet natured spaniel--are unwillingly dumped on Jonathan Trefoil,
a floundering, unfulfilled 20-something New Yorker in Jonathan
Unleashed, a romantic comedy by Meg Rosoff. The dogs' attentiveness to Jonathan--and vice
versa--create refreshing new beginnings for Jonathan's thorny, uncertain life.
Hector,
a fluffy little white dog owned by a widow in a small town, and Trey Barkley,
Hector's 26 year-old, professional dog walker who suffers from schizophrenia,
are at the center of The Chocolate Debacle by
Karen Winters Schwartz. When Hector's owner is found murdered, Trey becomes the
prime suspect in this psychologically astute murder mystery.
And in my own novel, The Thing Is, a
crafty therapy dog, a lovable Yorkshire terrier named Prozac--with supernatural
wisdom, a canine Mensa IQ and an even higher opinion of himself--sets off on an
adventurous, comedic quest to rescue a blocked romance writer grieving the
death of her fiancé.
So before summer winds down, let yourself 'go to the
dogs'…literarily.
NOTE: This column previously appeared in Shelf
Awareness for Readers (8/16/16) and is being reprinted (in a slightly different form) with their
permission. Link HERE
to read the column as originally published.