How to Share a Cat and Other Life Lessons

by Evelyn Fenn

Seventeen-year-old Nessa Clarkson is full of questions and confusion. How does she fit into the new household Dad is forging with his partner, Cindy, and Cindy’s son? What will being a lesbian mean in practice? And why is their neighbour so reluctant to talk about her past?

Moira Cavendish had been famous for a while, in the 1980s. Then she fled the bright lights of London, leaving only a mystery behind her.

Moira and Nessa shouldn’t have anything in common. But when their paths cross, and they bond over their shared love of knitting and the ginger tomcat that can’t decide whose home is best, they find themselves on intertwining journeys of discovery.

399 pages, Paperback

Published January 6, 2024

About the author

I lived in five different cities, spanning two continents, before leaving crowds and commuting behind, and settling somewhere that official statistics describe as “Very Remote Rural”.

I have worked in the public, private, and voluntary sectors, with roles ranging from number crunching and lecturing to mucking out cowsheds and toilet cleaning. I currently hold down a day job in local government and write in my spare time.

I have made up stories for as long as I can remember and have been writing them down for almost as long. I cut my creative writing teeth on fan fiction in the days of paper fanzines and, later, online. I had fun but eventually grew tired of playing in other people’s sandpits. It’s more fun creating sandpits of my own.

Reviews

[Eleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very sweet and gently enjoyable book. I thought Moira in particular was an excellent character - still deeply affected by a complicated past from decades previous, shallowness of friendships harshly exposed by the pandemic, open to learning new things about the world and herself. Of course, it was also great to have her as an older asexual character when a lot of the existing representation is teenagers/young adults. It was also a good demonstration of the importance of access to resources/information/community.

Nessa and Meg felt like quite accurate representation of well-meaning but hasty and occasionally callous teenagers. When Poppy was introduced though, it felt like Nessa was super quick to judge her and for a while I was expecting there to be some kind of lesson there about not being so hasty to write people off? But then it turned into Poppy actually being completely horrible. I thought her suddenly being expelled for drug dealing was kind of bizarre though - it slightly got my back up in a vaguely 'drugs are immoral' kind of way.

The writing was a bit clunky and overly preachy in places. But for the most part it was very readable.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sweet, heart-warming story. My heart absolutely went out to Moira and Nessa. They’re both dealing with feeling lonely and maybe a little lost in the post-covid world, even if it’s for very different reasons. I enjoyed getting to know both of them by following them through their lives. Although there’s not a lot of tension, the story is interesting, and I loved seeing them bond. There’s plenty of character development and growth throughout the book, which drew the story along. This was a wonderful piece of YA women’s fiction mixed with a little bit of coming of age that you don’t want to miss!

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

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Frankie from How to Share a Cat and Other Life Lessons is aromantic asexual!
Moira Cavendish from How to Share a Cat and Other Life Lessons is aromantic asexual!
Tarone from How to Share a Cat and Other Life Lessons is demisexual!

[Eule Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet, lovely story with a coming-of-age feel. Cats are the best!