What do you think?
He Gave Me Barn Cats
Inspired by true events...
Losses send a woman's soul into its darkest winter...
Maria has cared for her very ill mother for many years. Her burdens are heavy, causing a sadness bordering on darkness. When she discovers her historic barn is now home to a mother cat and kittens, she feels lighter than she has in years. As the kittens grow, they teach her as only animals can do.
Then tragedy strikes. As Maria loses her family, the darkness envelopes her like the heavy fog that blankets her Blue Ridge mountain home each morning. She creates a scorecard: God: 9, Maria: 0. Her questions turn into anger at God. She searches to find answers as to why her loving God would take away so much in such a short time.
How will she learn to trust again? Can the kittens in her barn help her heal?
Losses send a woman's soul into its darkest winter...
Maria has cared for her very ill mother for many years. Her burdens are heavy, causing a sadness bordering on darkness. When she discovers her historic barn is now home to a mother cat and kittens, she feels lighter than she has in years. As the kittens grow, they teach her as only animals can do.
Then tragedy strikes. As Maria loses her family, the darkness envelopes her like the heavy fog that blankets her Blue Ridge mountain home each morning. She creates a scorecard: God: 9, Maria: 0. Her questions turn into anger at God. She searches to find answers as to why her loving God would take away so much in such a short time.
How will she learn to trust again? Can the kittens in her barn help her heal?
134 pages, Paperback
Published February 26, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 21, 2016
I won this Free book through Goodreads First-Reads.
Maria had been facing great illnesses in her family and death of loved ones.
God showed his love by providing Barn Cats to help her through this difficult time.
Caring for her dog and cats was a positive feeling.
Maria also shared many Bible verses that provide what she needed.
I'm looking forward to her next book
Maria had been facing great illnesses in her family and death of loved ones.
God showed his love by providing Barn Cats to help her through this difficult time.
Caring for her dog and cats was a positive feeling.
Maria also shared many Bible verses that provide what she needed.
I'm looking forward to her next book
November 9, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is told from a variety of vantage points, including those of the barn cats in the title. It must be hard to write as though you're a cat, but the author did a wonderful job of capturing the cats' voices. The narratives -- from the cats, a dog, the author herself, her mother, her husband, and her late father -- fit together to make a tender and cohesive story about love and loss and maintaining one's faith through difficult times. The subjects are familiar, yet the author's approach yielded an engaging and appealing tale, one that was not at all maudlin or cloying. Once I started reading the book, I had a hard time putting it down. A wonderful book.
March 1, 2017
I hate it when I had hoped a book was better than what I get. Even more disappointing is that it also claims to be a Christian book based on the true story of a woman's loss and how a litter of barn cats enable her to move forward in her healing. He Gave Me Barn Cats by Maria Santomasso-Hyde is a short book told from a variety of points of view, from Charlotte, the barn cat, to Maria the woman who is the owner of the home and subsequent barn in which she finds the litter of cats, to Lula, her 86-year old aging mother she cares for, along with Lindsey, the Labrador Retriever and of course, each of the kittens in the litter.They all get a turn to share their voice and how they view what is happening as the book progresses forward.
What really gets the readers attention who is believing this is a "Christian" book, is her statements from certain characters like Charlotte, our mother of the cats, who believes cats were once worshipped in ancient days, (which we know Egyptians did), and that humans need help because only cats have the ability about "psychic things that we cats understand and you mere mortals do not." Not only that but Lula is visited by her former husband Tony, now a ghost on a nightly basis. The book also contains profanity in it as well which is not what is to be expected in a book clearly intended and labeled as a "Christian" fiction.
I had hoped that this would be so much better than what it was and I truly believe the author may have gotten lost in her ability to share her story along the way without remember the audience this book is likely to be picked up by. That is the reason I have relabeled it in my post as simply a contemporary book based on a true story. It is more honest in that regard and would more likely garner better reviews that labeling it as a Christian book, which is completely misleading in this reviewer's opinion. For that reason I can only give this book a 2 out of 5 stars. I received When He Gave Me Barn Cats by Maria Santomasso-Hyde compliments of Dancing Lemur Press and MC Book Tours.
What really gets the readers attention who is believing this is a "Christian" book, is her statements from certain characters like Charlotte, our mother of the cats, who believes cats were once worshipped in ancient days, (which we know Egyptians did), and that humans need help because only cats have the ability about "psychic things that we cats understand and you mere mortals do not." Not only that but Lula is visited by her former husband Tony, now a ghost on a nightly basis. The book also contains profanity in it as well which is not what is to be expected in a book clearly intended and labeled as a "Christian" fiction.
I had hoped that this would be so much better than what it was and I truly believe the author may have gotten lost in her ability to share her story along the way without remember the audience this book is likely to be picked up by. That is the reason I have relabeled it in my post as simply a contemporary book based on a true story. It is more honest in that regard and would more likely garner better reviews that labeling it as a Christian book, which is completely misleading in this reviewer's opinion. For that reason I can only give this book a 2 out of 5 stars. I received When He Gave Me Barn Cats by Maria Santomasso-Hyde compliments of Dancing Lemur Press and MC Book Tours.
March 18, 2017
Barn Cats is a memoir spanning two years in Maria Santomasso-Hyde’s life. It takes place during a time when she experienced so much loss it seems a miracle she didn’t drown, or at least float away, in the ocean of tears she shed.
There are so many things I love about this memoir. I love that while you will most likely find it in the devotional/inspirational section of a bookstore; it doesn’t preach. I love that, although it’s about one person’s emotional survival during a time of devastating loss, the author never once comes across as self-absorbed or self-pitying.
I especially love that this book tells a complete story without burdening the reader with so much as one extraneous word, detail, or description.
But perhaps what I love most of all, is that it is narrated by nine or ten voices, only four of which are human. It is challenging, to say the least, to make animal narrators work; too often they simply do not come across as credible. But, in this book, they do. In this book, every single one of the animal narrators is as real and believable as the four human ones. And in the gentlest, and most extraordinary of ways, it is often the animals who let us see the details, and the pain Maria Santomasso-Hyde experiences. It was a risky approach to take in writing a memoir, but she made it work.
It was because of the animals, either because of what they said or because of the loss of them, that I cried through nearly every page of this book. And, why I cried long after I finished it.
And, this is another thing I love about Barn Cats: it’s a sad book, but it is not an unhappy one. It is, instead, a book about the very real and desperate pain of loss. It is about the heart-wrenching, spirit-busting journey back to a place where—if but for only a moment at first—joy is once again experienced.
Barn Cats is the heartbreaking story of a woman who deeply loved—and lost—her family, her dog, and her four beautiful barn cats, all within a small window of time. But it is also the heartwarming story of the white dove, the sparrow, and seven deer who reminded her, even in the face of unfathomable loss, God is still listening.
There are so many things I love about this memoir. I love that while you will most likely find it in the devotional/inspirational section of a bookstore; it doesn’t preach. I love that, although it’s about one person’s emotional survival during a time of devastating loss, the author never once comes across as self-absorbed or self-pitying.
I especially love that this book tells a complete story without burdening the reader with so much as one extraneous word, detail, or description.
But perhaps what I love most of all, is that it is narrated by nine or ten voices, only four of which are human. It is challenging, to say the least, to make animal narrators work; too often they simply do not come across as credible. But, in this book, they do. In this book, every single one of the animal narrators is as real and believable as the four human ones. And in the gentlest, and most extraordinary of ways, it is often the animals who let us see the details, and the pain Maria Santomasso-Hyde experiences. It was a risky approach to take in writing a memoir, but she made it work.
It was because of the animals, either because of what they said or because of the loss of them, that I cried through nearly every page of this book. And, why I cried long after I finished it.
And, this is another thing I love about Barn Cats: it’s a sad book, but it is not an unhappy one. It is, instead, a book about the very real and desperate pain of loss. It is about the heart-wrenching, spirit-busting journey back to a place where—if but for only a moment at first—joy is once again experienced.
Barn Cats is the heartbreaking story of a woman who deeply loved—and lost—her family, her dog, and her four beautiful barn cats, all within a small window of time. But it is also the heartwarming story of the white dove, the sparrow, and seven deer who reminded her, even in the face of unfathomable loss, God is still listening.
March 16, 2017
This is a tender story about love, loss, grief, and hope. The author uses a variety of viewpoints to share her story. While the story does go back and forth from the thoughts of these various viewpoints, readers are able to follow without any problem.
The author shares her emotional journey at losing her elderly mother after having taken care of her for many years. During this journey the author finds hope, loss, and happiness through numerous animals that she and her husband share their lives with.
If you’ve ever care for a loved one during a lengthy illness, this book will touch your heart. The comfort and hope the author finds from the animals around her will resonate with those who have four-legged fur babies as part of their family.
HE GAVE ME BARN CATS is filled with emotions. Readers will be able to relate on many levels to the ups and downs the author encounters throughout this story. If you’re the least bit tender-hearted, don’t be surprised if you need a tissue or two before the story ends.
FTC Full Disclosure – A copy of this book was sent to me by the publisher. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review. The thoughts are completely my own and given honestly and freely.
The author shares her emotional journey at losing her elderly mother after having taken care of her for many years. During this journey the author finds hope, loss, and happiness through numerous animals that she and her husband share their lives with.
If you’ve ever care for a loved one during a lengthy illness, this book will touch your heart. The comfort and hope the author finds from the animals around her will resonate with those who have four-legged fur babies as part of their family.
HE GAVE ME BARN CATS is filled with emotions. Readers will be able to relate on many levels to the ups and downs the author encounters throughout this story. If you’re the least bit tender-hearted, don’t be surprised if you need a tissue or two before the story ends.
FTC Full Disclosure – A copy of this book was sent to me by the publisher. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review. The thoughts are completely my own and given honestly and freely.
March 29, 2017
A book of loss, faith and re-birth. It shows how although things may be bad and you feel that God has left you, he is always there. Also it shows the power of animals and the strength they can give you. I fed Maria's barn cats a time or two and they were delightful. I could only pet Jack though. And finally, the book shows my Granddad's barn. I am Maria's neighbor.
March 24, 2018
This is a nice story. It's not really the type of thing I usually like to read, but it was good. This book is mainly about keeping the faith in difficult times, so this read tends towards the religious. This book is based on the author's life, so that adds a nice emotion to the story. The story is quite sad, and Maria experiences a lot of loss during a fairly short time. She needs to come to terms with her faith and her grief. I recently lost my cat, she was 20 years old, so the emotional situations with the cats made me sad. Overall, I liked it.
The audio was nice, and the narrator did a good job. She even had to sing a bit, and she did great. There's a lot of POV's in this book, Maria, her mother, her husband, the dog, the mama cat, and all the kittens, so there's lots of different characters for the narrator to work with. I enjoyed the listening experience. I'd recommend it.
The audio was nice, and the narrator did a good job. She even had to sing a bit, and she did great. There's a lot of POV's in this book, Maria, her mother, her husband, the dog, the mama cat, and all the kittens, so there's lots of different characters for the narrator to work with. I enjoyed the listening experience. I'd recommend it.
January 25, 2024
In this memoir, the author depicts the painful journey of caring for her dying mother. As her days begin to darken, the author discovers a brave mother cat and litter of playful kittens in the barn. As the seasons pass, this dichotomy of dark and light pulls the reader in. Reading this book also provided a deep dive into the author's intensely rich and moving spiritual life. I found myself asking some of the same questions the author asked of God. Why me? Why now?
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews