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Feline Frolics #7
The Coming of Saska
Doreen Tovey enchants us again with stories of life with her husband Charles in a West Country village, where they are driven to distraction by Siamese cats, Annabel the donkey, nesting swallows, bucking horses, and the villagers who still regard them as inept townsfolk, even after 18 years. In an effort to get away from it all, they take a trip to Canada to see the bears and wolves—much to the alarm of Father Adams and Miss Wellington. If they can't handle Siamese cats, how will they handle a grizzly? However, after hearing what the villagers have been up to in their absence, they wonder if they might have been safer in Canada. As for the cats, Seeley and Shebalu start acting strangely when they develop a taste for dog food. But it is time for another solemn little Seal Point to come into their lives—who takes some settling in.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
31 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Doreen Tovey
21 books34 followersDoreen was born in Bristol on 24 October 1918. At this time a flu epidemic was raging and her mother died from this leaving her two week old daughter to be brought up by her Grandmother, as her father, being an engineer, was away from home for long periods of time.
It was this upbringing that introduced Doreen to a variety of pets, as Grandmother was an inveterate rescuer of anything in need.
Together with her Aunt Louisa they shared a house with cats, dogs and an owl called Gladstone whose perch on the bathroom door dictated that the use of this room was a swift one as no heat could be kept inside with the continually open door.
Doreen went to Grammar School and passed her matric (as it was called then), she would have loved to go to university but knew her grandmother could never have afforded it.
After a couple of boring jobs she joined Imperial Tobacco and was with them for many years. Starting as a typist, then a secretary and, when they discovered that she could write, in their public relations department.
It was here that she met Rene, who was in the Accountants Department. They met on the staircase one day and six months later Rene went to war in the Royal Navy.
Rene came home on leave and they were married in Bristol by special licence on a Monday afternoon and spent a two-day honeymoon on a farm and Rene went back to war.
She spent most of the time Rene was away with her Aunt Louisa who made life quite fun for Doreen after the austerity of her Victorian grandmother, who loved her dearly but had set ideas how a young lady should be brought up.
Two and a half years later Rene was on his way home. His convoy coming via the Cape to avoid the still roaming enemy submarines, the war was still on and he was sent to London where Doreen was transferred to be with him. He was then posted to a shore station in the West Country and Doreen and Rene set about to find their dream cottage. They rented a very dilapidated ex public house with an earth closet, the dream cottage put on hold, both back working in Bristol for their old firm, Doreen now as their statistical librarian, writing reports that were read by the Board. A job normally only considered for a man.
After a couple of further moves, a Georgian relic and a happy period in a farm, they found the perfect place at Rowberrow, Somerset. They had also found a baby squirrel, which had fallen from its drey and Rene refused to climb the thirty feet necessary to return the little bedraggled mite to its nest. So Blondin became part of the Tovey family and unwittingly the reason Doreen and Rene got their first Siamese cat, Sugieh.
Blondin was a hoarder and the cottage soon became infested with mice looking for Blondin’s nuts and pieces of bread that he had stuffed under cushions and carpets for his rainy day. Whilst the mice had plenty to eat they did not cause too many problems but when Blondin caught a chill and died, their supply died too and they took to eating anything and everything. Doreen decided to get a cat and having seen a neighbour’s Siamese out for a stroll one day on a rather fetching collar and lead, decided that a Siamese would be the answer, she could also have a litter and maybe raise the Tovey finances.
Sugieh produced a litter of four kittens. Doreen decided that one’s fortune was not going to be made that way and when Sugeih died whilst being spayed (a far less straightforward procedure in the mid 1950s than it is today), decided to keep a sealpointed boy called Solomon and his bluepointed sister Sheba.
The antics of these kittens, a donkey called Annabel and the following Siamese inmates of The White Cottage were to bring Doreen world wide recognition of her books and writings, starting with ‘Cats In The Belfry’ published in 1957. The Canadian Government sponsored her and Rene on a trip to the Rockies to write about the Canadian Wildlife, with special focus on Grizzly bears. This trip can be read about in ‘The Co
It was this upbringing that introduced Doreen to a variety of pets, as Grandmother was an inveterate rescuer of anything in need.
Together with her Aunt Louisa they shared a house with cats, dogs and an owl called Gladstone whose perch on the bathroom door dictated that the use of this room was a swift one as no heat could be kept inside with the continually open door.
Doreen went to Grammar School and passed her matric (as it was called then), she would have loved to go to university but knew her grandmother could never have afforded it.
After a couple of boring jobs she joined Imperial Tobacco and was with them for many years. Starting as a typist, then a secretary and, when they discovered that she could write, in their public relations department.
It was here that she met Rene, who was in the Accountants Department. They met on the staircase one day and six months later Rene went to war in the Royal Navy.
Rene came home on leave and they were married in Bristol by special licence on a Monday afternoon and spent a two-day honeymoon on a farm and Rene went back to war.
She spent most of the time Rene was away with her Aunt Louisa who made life quite fun for Doreen after the austerity of her Victorian grandmother, who loved her dearly but had set ideas how a young lady should be brought up.
Two and a half years later Rene was on his way home. His convoy coming via the Cape to avoid the still roaming enemy submarines, the war was still on and he was sent to London where Doreen was transferred to be with him. He was then posted to a shore station in the West Country and Doreen and Rene set about to find their dream cottage. They rented a very dilapidated ex public house with an earth closet, the dream cottage put on hold, both back working in Bristol for their old firm, Doreen now as their statistical librarian, writing reports that were read by the Board. A job normally only considered for a man.
After a couple of further moves, a Georgian relic and a happy period in a farm, they found the perfect place at Rowberrow, Somerset. They had also found a baby squirrel, which had fallen from its drey and Rene refused to climb the thirty feet necessary to return the little bedraggled mite to its nest. So Blondin became part of the Tovey family and unwittingly the reason Doreen and Rene got their first Siamese cat, Sugieh.
Blondin was a hoarder and the cottage soon became infested with mice looking for Blondin’s nuts and pieces of bread that he had stuffed under cushions and carpets for his rainy day. Whilst the mice had plenty to eat they did not cause too many problems but when Blondin caught a chill and died, their supply died too and they took to eating anything and everything. Doreen decided to get a cat and having seen a neighbour’s Siamese out for a stroll one day on a rather fetching collar and lead, decided that a Siamese would be the answer, she could also have a litter and maybe raise the Tovey finances.
Sugieh produced a litter of four kittens. Doreen decided that one’s fortune was not going to be made that way and when Sugeih died whilst being spayed (a far less straightforward procedure in the mid 1950s than it is today), decided to keep a sealpointed boy called Solomon and his bluepointed sister Sheba.
The antics of these kittens, a donkey called Annabel and the following Siamese inmates of The White Cottage were to bring Doreen world wide recognition of her books and writings, starting with ‘Cats In The Belfry’ published in 1957. The Canadian Government sponsored her and Rene on a trip to the Rockies to write about the Canadian Wildlife, with special focus on Grizzly bears. This trip can be read about in ‘The Co
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 20, 2019
I love all of Doreen Tovey's books. In this one they go on a trip to Canada, hoping to see some grizzlies! When they return home, their Siamese cats reign supreme ... Shebalu, Seeley, and a new addition, Saska.
If you enjoy nonfiction about life in the country, Siamese cats, and many other various animals, you'll enjoy these books.
5 Stars = Exceptional. It made a significant impact.
If you enjoy nonfiction about life in the country, Siamese cats, and many other various animals, you'll enjoy these books.
5 Stars = Exceptional. It made a significant impact.
June 28, 2019
(2.5) I’ve read four of Tovey’s quaint Siamese cat books now; this was the least worthwhile of them. It’s partially a matter of false advertising: Saska only turns up for the last 15 pages, as a replacement of sorts for Seeley, who disappeared one morning a year earlier and was never seen again. Over half of the book, in fact, is about a trip Tovey and her husband Charles took to Edmonton, Canada. The Canadian government sponsored them to come over for the Klondike Days festivities, and they also rented a camper and went looking for bears and moose. Mildly amusing mishaps, close shaves, etc. ensue. [Also, there is a distressingly dismissive comment about the natives (reminding me of Betty Macdonald in The Egg and I): “Opinion now is that the Indians were wrongly treated—that it was the white men who were the villains of the piece in frontier days.” This was published in 1977, but perhaps was remembering an earlier trip.] They then come back and settle into everyday life with their pair of Siamese cats; Saska had the same father as Shebalu. “Valuable, attractive, and – discounting all that – with a genius for getting themselves into trouble.” Such as Shebalu encountering an adder. Thus, after Seeley’s disappearance, the Toveys’ cats only ever got to go out on 20-foot nylon leashes. Entertaining enough, but slight, and with far too many ellipses.
May 21, 2020
Bold of you to title your book after something that doesn't occur until roughly 85% of the way through. This is mostly a book about the author's RV trip through Canada to view wildlife (allusions are made, with absolutely no clarifying detail, to it being a professional one sponsored by the Canadian government), but that's pretty fascinating in its own right. In the sections before and after there are also plenty of amusing anecdotes of their Siamese cats, their donkey, a horse she attempts to ride at a local stable, and some swallows who decide to nest in their garage.
This is my first book by this author, because this is the one I happened to pick up at a library sale before I'd ever heard of her, but I look forward to reading more. I can already tell I'm going to be annoyed in every single one by Father Adams' odd speech patterns, though.
This is my first book by this author, because this is the one I happened to pick up at a library sale before I'd ever heard of her, but I look forward to reading more. I can already tell I'm going to be annoyed in every single one by Father Adams' odd speech patterns, though.
August 8, 2021
I loved Doreen Tovey's books when I was a teenager, and have only just rediscovered them. She was a clever writer - she basically spins her tales out of almost nothing. I hadn't read this one before, and to be honest I don't think it's her best. There is a sudden long diversion on What I did on my Holidays, ie. went to Canada, but I found the descriptions of bears interesting. The very sad thing about this book is that they lose one of their beloved cats. Seeley vanishes from their garden one morning, and they never discover what happened to him. This seems awful to me; they search the countryside, advertise, and go for miles trying to find him. The incredible thing is that they lived in what would seem to be a very safe place. Their cottage was tucked away in a tiny Somerset village, and it's hard to imagine what could have happened to him.
February 22, 2020
Another easy read by this author continuing the feline frolics of her Siamese cats. Some parts tug at the heart when a pet is lost but never forgotten and always replaced by the coming of another one. In this story she diverts a little relating stories of their visit to Canada and her descriptive way or telling the tales of their encounter with black bears, wolverines, grizzly bears and other Canadian wildlife is very entertaining.
November 2, 2017
I love all Doreen Tovey's books about her life with her husband, Charles, and her Siamese cats. I have been rereading them because we recently had to have a beloved cat put to sleep, and these books are really good about losing a pet, true and poignant. Great fun as well!!
November 25, 2019
Excellent series
So much fun!
Great laughs, some tears. Always interesting.
Wish the author was still alive, would love to be able to write her.
So much fun!
Great laughs, some tears. Always interesting.
Wish the author was still alive, would love to be able to write her.
June 4, 2012
Not sure what I think about this one if I'm honest - it was quite a sweet story and fairly well written, it also didn't read as a book from the 70's despite being written in 1977. I suppose I'd liken the style of this book to Derek Tangye's work.
What confused me was that this book is called the coming of Saska - but Saska the cat doesn't even come into the book until the last quarter. It seems to me like the author wrote a book about a particular section of her life, then wondered what the hell to call it and settled on a title from the last part she had written about.
That didn't distract from the quality of the book as it were but I did find it abnormaly irritating. The other thing that annoyed me a bit was the authors reaction to her cats and how her siamese cats always had to be 'perfect' ok so she did get Saska in the end and he has a bent tail, but her first reaction was not to want him because essentially he was damaged goods - I hate that kind of mentality when it comes to pets, probably why I always seem to be adopting the animals no one else wants.
All in all it was quite a cute and quaint story though and I particularly liked the part about their time in Canada - it made me want to go and see the wildlife there myself, I only hope it hasn't changed that much in 35 years...
What confused me was that this book is called the coming of Saska - but Saska the cat doesn't even come into the book until the last quarter. It seems to me like the author wrote a book about a particular section of her life, then wondered what the hell to call it and settled on a title from the last part she had written about.
That didn't distract from the quality of the book as it were but I did find it abnormaly irritating. The other thing that annoyed me a bit was the authors reaction to her cats and how her siamese cats always had to be 'perfect' ok so she did get Saska in the end and he has a bent tail, but her first reaction was not to want him because essentially he was damaged goods - I hate that kind of mentality when it comes to pets, probably why I always seem to be adopting the animals no one else wants.
All in all it was quite a cute and quaint story though and I particularly liked the part about their time in Canada - it made me want to go and see the wildlife there myself, I only hope it hasn't changed that much in 35 years...
December 25, 2010
Account of wildlife trip in Canada, not the usual fare, not what I was expecting but a good travelogue nonetheless.
February 13, 2013
all Doreen Tovey books are fabulous!! and Fun and full of laughs
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews