Book Reviews – Deric Longden (An Author for Cat Lovers)

However the demands made on him by Diana’s illness, subsequently believed to be a form of ME forced him to give up his day job and sell his factory. He has since devoted himself to full-time writing, broadcasting, lecturing and after-dinner speaking.

Diana’s Story, published in 1989, some years after her death, was a bestseller. The book hit the Sunday Times best seller list straight away, and won the NCR book award.

In 1993 it was made into a film “Wide Eyed and Legless” starring Julie Walters, a moving tribute to Diana’s life.

He married the writer Aileen Armitage in 1990 and now lives in Huddersfield along with a motley collection of cats.

But the two books I want to talk about are;

1. The Cat who came in from the Cold,

2. Enough to Make a Cat Laugh.

These two books almost had me hysterical with laughter; any cat lover can tell you stories about their animals. (I have one called Muppet: and if ever a cat lives up to its name, he does. Unfortunately his life will be short as he has feline leukemia, anemia and a kidney problem).

Thermal, the main cat character, gets himself adopted by Deric and Aileen and the ensuring tales of his love for “Ralph”, a raisin, the exploits with the wine in the fridge etc will make you chuckle. Once incident sticks in my mind of when the local “bully” cat gets his come up pence. Along the way they gain other felines, each a character in its own right.

My daughter read this book when a lot younger and I can remember passing her bedroom door and hearing giggles and laughter as she lay in bed reading.

The second one is a sequel and tells again of Thermal and the motley collection of cats that they are now owned by: “Cat” people will tell you that are true, they deign to live with you. Once again Deric is “talked to” by the felines with tales of their various exploits

There is yet a third book “Paws for Thought” that sadly, as yet, I have not read.

However, if it is anything like the previous two it, will be a great read. I have avoided giving too much of the plots away, as I feel it is up to the readers to make their own final judgment.

If you are a cat lover, they are a “must read”, but I hope others will pick these up and read them: especially children.