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16th out of 192 books
—
35 voters
CLEO: The Cat Who Mended a Family
by
Helen Brown
In the tradition of "Marley & Me, Cleo" is the story of an impish black kitten who teaches a grieving family to love and laugh again after the tragic loss of a child.
Paperback, 292 pages
Published
September 1st 2010
by Citadel
(first published January 1st 2009)
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My then 6-year-old daughter picked this book out for me for my birthday "because the kitten on the cover was cute"-- for her, I knew I would read it, but I really didn't expect it to be a good story. I couldn't have been more wrong-- this book was one of the best memoirs I have ever read-- it really pulled on my "mommy-heartstrings". I had a hard time getting into it at first, but I stuck with it and glad I did! The 2nd time I read it, I had no trouble getting into it.
While the story was largely...more
While the story was largely...more
Feb 18, 2013
Kaethe
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
animals,
australia,
cats,
contemporary,
death,
dogs,
domesticity,
fiction,
feminism,
friendship,
grief,
humor,
kids,
new-zealand,
ptsd,
memoir,
romance,
strong-smart-female-protagonist,
uk
AS a life-long cat-lover, I had a hard time getting going here. The author is a journalist/features writer in New Zealand, and she tells how it was that she, definitely NOT a cat person, acquired a small kitten, and how that kitten brought her family through the trauma of losing a child, and then a marriage, and growing-up, and finding love, and illness.
Cleo, the cat, living a surprisingly long time, so Brown is able to hit many of the great emotional events in life through her lens. Established...more
Cleo, the cat, living a surprisingly long time, so Brown is able to hit many of the great emotional events in life through her lens. Established...more
Written by New Zealand journalist Helen Brown, this personal memoir talks about how Cleo the cat helped her and her children, particularly her son, adjust to tragedy and change. Helen and her family already had a dog and she wasn't interested in adding a cat to the household, but her oldest son Sam was intent on wanting the cat, and willing to give up birthday gifts in exchange. Helen agreed to adopt the cat as soon as it was ready to leave its mother and Sam picked a name for the kitten. When t...more
I was first captivated by the book Cleo when I unpacked it among the many others received that day at the bookstore. I couldn't help but be instantly charmed by those brilliant green eyes as I removed the packing paper, however, I wasn't ready to read the book. My mother had been extremely ill for months and really, I wasn't ready to read any book.
A week before my mother lost her battle with lung cancer, I bought Cleo and in the days that followed my mother's death, I sought solace in the only...more
A week before my mother lost her battle with lung cancer, I bought Cleo and in the days that followed my mother's death, I sought solace in the only...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
„Liebe kann wehtun – Katzen und Menschen“ über jedem Kapitel in Helen Brown`s Buch „Cleo“ steht ein solcher Spruch. Stets mit dem Bezug auf Katzen. Helen Brown beschreibt in „Cleo“ ihre schweren und glücklichen Momente. Sie lebt mit ihrem ersten Mann, den zwei Söhnen Sam und Rob und der Hündin Rata in einem Haus. Die Ehe läuft nicht mehr so gut und der Man ist viel unterwegs. Eines Tages gehen Rob und Sam mit einem kranken Vogel allein zu einem Tierarzt. Sie müssen vorher noch eine Straße überqu...more
The Book Report: A family devastated by loss takes in a little black mutt-kitten and learns, painfully and slowly and with much trouble, to live the lives they've been allowed to keep despite the life that was lost. Marriages begin and end, relationships resemble the ones they began as not at all, and through it all, for a remarkable twenty-four years, a proud black cat runs the entire world from a succession of Kiwi then Aussie kitchens, living rooms, and Asian-run delis. One day she dies, and...more
Eat, Meow, Deposit Half-Eaten Bird in Your Shoe
Cleo: The Cat Who Mended a Family is a heart-warming memoir about a woman whose family is torn apart by the tragic death of her 9-year-old son, who only wanted a kitten for his birthday. He was told he had to wait until spring, and unfortunately, he never lived to see the kitten become a part of his family.
As any cat-lover will tell you, the runt of any litter is usually the last to be adopted. Usually smaller than its siblings, it's had to fight it...more
Cleo: The Cat Who Mended a Family is a heart-warming memoir about a woman whose family is torn apart by the tragic death of her 9-year-old son, who only wanted a kitten for his birthday. He was told he had to wait until spring, and unfortunately, he never lived to see the kitten become a part of his family.
As any cat-lover will tell you, the runt of any litter is usually the last to be adopted. Usually smaller than its siblings, it's had to fight it...more
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Helen Brown took her animal loving son Sam to see a litter of kittens as he badly wanted one for his upcoming tenth birthday. The only kitten left is the runt, a tiny little scrap of black fur. Naming her Cleo it is arranged that the kitten would be dropped off to Sam in a few months time when she was old enough to leave her mother.
Sam’s love and total fascination in animals leads to a horrific accident. Shortly after his birthday while rushing an injured bird to a vet’s, he runs out in front of...more
Sam’s love and total fascination in animals leads to a horrific accident. Shortly after his birthday while rushing an injured bird to a vet’s, he runs out in front of...more
"Cleo's motto seemed to be: Life's tough and that's okay, because life is also fantastic. Love it, live it - but don't be fooled into thinking its not harsh sometimes." - Brown
Brown has a wonderful writing style. Her transitions in the book through time and emotions were brilliant. The pace of the book was just perfect to relay the situations and emotions the family was going through. I was especially inspired by Cleo's connection with Rob. Terrible things happen to this family, but the stories...more
Brown has a wonderful writing style. Her transitions in the book through time and emotions were brilliant. The pace of the book was just perfect to relay the situations and emotions the family was going through. I was especially inspired by Cleo's connection with Rob. Terrible things happen to this family, but the stories...more
Even though this book took me awhile to read (much longer, it seemed than usual for me) I think that was partly because at no time did I resort to skimming it. I tended to give this one a thorough reading, and that is in itself an indication of my more-than-usual absorption in the story.
Let me state here, parenthetically, that I do think the book is mis-titled. This isn't really the story of a cat "who mended a family", since that particular family unit was not mended. Undoubtedly Cleo mended th...more
Let me state here, parenthetically, that I do think the book is mis-titled. This isn't really the story of a cat "who mended a family", since that particular family unit was not mended. Undoubtedly Cleo mended th...more
CLEO by Helen Brown
What a little piece of magic this book is. Have your hankie ready, Cleo and Helen would melt the hardest heart. For 24 years, this little black cat was the one constant in the lives of Helen and her family. From the most terrible tragedy that can strike a family, and the various ups and downs that occured in the years afterwards, Cleo kept them all looking forward and up. That is all the plot info that I am going to give because you need to read this for yourself!
However Helen...more
What a little piece of magic this book is. Have your hankie ready, Cleo and Helen would melt the hardest heart. For 24 years, this little black cat was the one constant in the lives of Helen and her family. From the most terrible tragedy that can strike a family, and the various ups and downs that occured in the years afterwards, Cleo kept them all looking forward and up. That is all the plot info that I am going to give because you need to read this for yourself!
However Helen...more
1 like · like · see review
Who can resist the gorgeous black kitten on the cover of this book? Definitely not me.. Every cat lover should read this book! In the style of Marley and Me, Helen Brown recounts events from her life- from meeting Cleo as a kitten, to her death, 23 long years later (that's around 160 in cat years!) Cleo's long life allows Brown to cover a wide range of events, all the while paying homage to an extraordinary animal. The tragedy the family goes through in the beginning of the book is shockingly sa...more
I really enjoyed this book! I have a cat and I enjoyed reading more about the bond people can have with their pets. I thought it was really interesting how the cat, Cleo, made such a big impact on the author, Helen. Throughout this book, Helen used Cleo to show her feelings and used her to foreshadow events like death and recovery. Helen also compares Cleo's actions to her own personal life. For example, when Cleo wanted to eat a dead baby bird that a mother bird was guarding, Helen was mad at h...more
Dec 29, 2010
Molly
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Molly by:
Gift from Colleen
Shelves:
memoirs
Having read Marley & Me and Dewey I am familiar with the memoir wrapped inside a loving furry friend. It can lean one of two ways - a story about the animal or a story about the human. Cleo actually walks a pretty good balance between the two.
The author and her family are dog people. They have no business with a cat. But young children and the sight of a kitten can find you owned by a feline regardless of your doggy roots. And this is how Helen Brown comes to be adopted by Cleo.
What is uniqu...more
The author and her family are dog people. They have no business with a cat. But young children and the sight of a kitten can find you owned by a feline regardless of your doggy roots. And this is how Helen Brown comes to be adopted by Cleo.
What is uniqu...more
Such a lovely little read which turned out to be a lot more than the back cover suggests. Over the years I have read various columns penned by Helen Brown and enjoyed her frank and honest style.
The idea of a whimsical read about her cat seemed just the ticket uh wrong...Yes it is a memoir and yes it is woven around the long and eventful life of a captivating cat named Cleo. What this book really is, is the appropriate way for a master word smith to sort out and make sense of a huge loss. Helen'...more
The idea of a whimsical read about her cat seemed just the ticket uh wrong...Yes it is a memoir and yes it is woven around the long and eventful life of a captivating cat named Cleo. What this book really is, is the appropriate way for a master word smith to sort out and make sense of a huge loss. Helen'...more
"Cleo's motto seemed to be: Life's tough and that's okay, because life is also fantastic. Love it, live it- but don't be fooled into thinking it's not harsh sometimes. Those who've survived periods of bleakness are often better at savoring good times and wise enough to understand that good times are actually great."
"One of his favorite quotes from Shakespeare was: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.""
"...but had ongoing proof that romantic...more
"One of his favorite quotes from Shakespeare was: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.""
"...but had ongoing proof that romantic...more
Jul 23, 2011
Brenda
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Animal lovers
Shelves:
borrowed-from-library,
non-fiction
Helen Brown's son Sam wanted only a kitten for his ninth birthday. He chose a small black cat (the runt of the litter) and promptly named her Cleo. By the time Cleo was weened and ready to be delivered, tragedy had struck, and Sam's family was struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of a healthy, happy young boy.
The story that opens with tragedy is about how this tiny invader took over their hearts and helped to quietly begin to heal the family. Cleo brought them the first tentative smi...more
The story that opens with tragedy is about how this tiny invader took over their hearts and helped to quietly begin to heal the family. Cleo brought them the first tentative smi...more
Opinião publicada no Efeito dos Livros
A minha opinião:
O que me chamou a atenção foram aqueles olhos verdes. Porque antes de vos falar da Cleo, eu podia falar da bola de pelo preta com olhos verdes que marcou a minha vida quando eu era ainda uma criança.
Numa família amante de animais mas com uma matriarca atrita a criaturas felpudas e destruidoras de mobílias, eu e a minha metade literária nunca tivemos oportunidade de ter animais em casa na nossa infância (entretanto já tivemos e continuamos a...more
A minha opinião:
O que me chamou a atenção foram aqueles olhos verdes. Porque antes de vos falar da Cleo, eu podia falar da bola de pelo preta com olhos verdes que marcou a minha vida quando eu era ainda uma criança.
Numa família amante de animais mas com uma matriarca atrita a criaturas felpudas e destruidoras de mobílias, eu e a minha metade literária nunca tivemos oportunidade de ter animais em casa na nossa infância (entretanto já tivemos e continuamos a...more
The cover of this book bills this story as "Marley & Me with cats" - I think that's a great description.
Cleo the cat comes into the lifes of a family that has suffered a tragedy - a young boy's death. Though at first the family thinks they can't possibly care for this kitten (they are self-proclaimed "dog people"), she works her way into their hearts and ends up staying. She sees them through many life changes (grieving, divorce, laughing again, re-marriage, and new babies) and lives for 24...more
Cleo the cat comes into the lifes of a family that has suffered a tragedy - a young boy's death. Though at first the family thinks they can't possibly care for this kitten (they are self-proclaimed "dog people"), she works her way into their hearts and ends up staying. She sees them through many life changes (grieving, divorce, laughing again, re-marriage, and new babies) and lives for 24...more
Helen Brown's animal-mad son Sam wanted nothing beyond a kitten for his ninth birthday. He chose a small black cat and promptly named her Cleo. By the time Cleo was weened and delivered, Sam was dead and his family was struggling to come to to terms with the sudden loss of a healthy, happy young boy.
The story that opens with tragedy is about how this tiny invader took over their hearts and helped guide them into a new normalacy. Cleo brought them the first tentative smiles and laughs and for her...more
The story that opens with tragedy is about how this tiny invader took over their hearts and helped guide them into a new normalacy. Cleo brought them the first tentative smiles and laughs and for her...more
I can't resist stories about cats, so I looked forward to reading this, especially since I'd heard part of a radio interview with the author.
Cleo certainly was an amazing little cat, and I found her story a delight. But household cats tend to live narrow lives by human standards, and Cleo's life story would not fill a book. This is also the story of the family she came to live with, and for me the story of the humans held less appeal. Not because of any shortcomings in the writing; Brown writes...more
Cleo certainly was an amazing little cat, and I found her story a delight. But household cats tend to live narrow lives by human standards, and Cleo's life story would not fill a book. This is also the story of the family she came to live with, and for me the story of the humans held less appeal. Not because of any shortcomings in the writing; Brown writes...more
This book most certainly NOT "the next Marley and Me". The characters in this book are underdeveloped. This book read like what it... was a cathartic outlet for a grieving mother. I wish the book Had been a charming story of a cat.
When a person suffers a profound loss and has trouble"moving on" a grief counselor often advises keeping a journal of the feelings. So the author wrote them down, gathered it up, stuck in a few anecdotes about a cat, and wrote up her newspaper column. Then why not use...more
When a person suffers a profound loss and has trouble"moving on" a grief counselor often advises keeping a journal of the feelings. So the author wrote them down, gathered it up, stuck in a few anecdotes about a cat, and wrote up her newspaper column. Then why not use...more
Half way through this book and enjoying it immensely!
1 like · like · see review
Feb 24, 2011
John
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to John by:
My cat-loving wife.
This is an overall delightful book with a couple of wrinkles. If you plan to read this book, know that Cleo the cat is certainly an important character but not really the main character. The main character is the author, Helen Brown, and I've got to give her credit for candor. Or perhaps I shouldn't say "credit" but rather "blame" for a little too much candor. The chapter titled "Openness" is, for my 70-year-old brain, a little too open. About 3 pages into that chapter I threw the book down and...more
I started this story thinking it was just about a cat and its family, I did not expect the tragedy that hit me in chapter 2. If I had known or realized I likely would not have picked up the book, I was looking for a light read. It was not a light read, but I am glad I read it. It is touching and funny and filled with real life. It is written outside of the US so you need to get used to lingo from Australia and New Zealand, but besides that it is a a real story. One of the few "real" storires I j...more
Absolutely loved this book. It was extremely painful to read in parts, had me in tears forever, and at the same time had me in stitches at the behaviour of this little furry intruder..
I have a sister in law who was bereaved in the same way as this family, and reading this made me appreciate her suffering in the years following. I felt so sad, the author had an excellent style of portraying her feelings, the hopelessness and emptiness.
I was impressed by the way periods of sadness were swept away...more
I have a sister in law who was bereaved in the same way as this family, and reading this made me appreciate her suffering in the years following. I felt so sad, the author had an excellent style of portraying her feelings, the hopelessness and emptiness.
I was impressed by the way periods of sadness were swept away...more
I picked up this book because I am a sucker for cute kitten pictures, like the one on the cover. The story was also unbelievably heartwarming. The story starts when Helen Brown's son Sam, just before his ninth birthday, visits a friend whose cat has just recently given birth and picks out the smallest kitten of the litter. He names her Cleo, short for Cleopatra, as her mother has the regal air of an Egyptian queen. As the kittens are newborn, it will be several weeks before Cleo is weaned and ca...more
Where to begin! All the classic words of tender, heartwarming, heart breaking, and the like...so over used and yet so befitting this story. Cleo will work her way into your heart from the very start, lead you on a journey through the ups and downs that is life as conducted by her, and bring you back to earth heavy hearted but full of life and appreciation for the beauty that it holds. Even now as I type this brief review, I can't help but tear up....it really is that wonderful. One quick word to...more
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Helen Brown was born and brought up in New Zealand, where she first worked as a journalist, TV presenter, and scriptwriter. Now living in Melbourne, Australia, with her family, Helen continues to write columns for the New Zealand media, and she’s been voted Columnist of the Year several times. Cleo rose to the top of the bestseller list in its first weeks in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Au...more
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“Guilt isn't in cat vocabulary. They never suffer remorse for eating too much, sleeping too long or hogging the warmest cushion in the house. They welcome every pleasurable moment as it unravels and savour it to the full until a butterfly or falling leaf diverts their attention. They don't waste energy counting the number of calories they've consumed or the hours they've frittered away sunbathing.
Cats don't beat themselves up about not working hard enough. They don't get up and go, they sit down and stay. For them, lethargy is an art form. From their vantage points on top of fences and window ledges, they see the treadmills of human obligations for what they are - a meaningless waste of nap time.”
—
15 people liked it
Cats don't beat themselves up about not working hard enough. They don't get up and go, they sit down and stay. For them, lethargy is an art form. From their vantage points on top of fences and window ledges, they see the treadmills of human obligations for what they are - a meaningless waste of nap time.”
“Great joy doesn't obliterate grief. Both can be encompassed at the same time.”
—
5 people liked it
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