About the author:

Lonnie Hull DuPont is an award-winning poet, book editor, and writer. She is the author of several books, including five compilations of animal stories under the pseudonym of Callie Smith Grant. A member of the Cat Writers Association, she lives in rural Michigan with her husband and their cats.

The information above has been copied from the Baker Publishing Group.(http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/kit-kat-and-lucy/380590)

Lonnie Hull Dupont worked as an acquisitions editor for a publishing house, during  a committee meeting another editor made the comment, “we’ve lost our connections to the animals.” Lonnie writes, “for me, this was startling and true… I didn’t realize until that moment how much I missed having animals” (p. 10)

Kit Kat & Lucy begins with a prologue, includes twenty chapters and concludes with acknowledgements. Each chapter is introduced with a cat quote. My personal favorite written by Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, “when I play with my cat, how do I know she is not actually playing with me.” Another favorite written by Stuart McMillion, “a meow massages the heart,” although I personally prefer purring. (p.77) Lonnie writes about key stages of her life, and intersects each with the particular pet that helped and comforted her. She wrote about her many childhood pets and reflects on how her pets helped her to survive anxiety and how they helped to improve her relationships. For Lonnie, pets became the connection that bonded some of her relationships.

Lonnie writes a selective autobiography and reflects about special moments in her life. After living without animals for nearly twenty years she found herself entertaining two house cats, Kit Kat and Lucy. These two cats changed her and she describes how in the book, having pets again led to the recognition of how deeply Lonnie and humans are moved by the companionship of an animal. She also wrote a great deal about her past, stories which always included an animal.

The book was dry at times, and at times (rarely) I had to drudge through it. I was able to appreciate the book, similar to Lonnie I grew up with pets and I loved my cats very much. I also lived without a pet for most of my adult life, nearly twenty years. A year ago my family and I fell in love with a gray long haired male named Louie. While reading I thought about Louie and wondered if I knew my cat as well as Lonnie knew/knows hers. I had never though about all the possible facets of my cat’s personality, and for this knowledge I am indebted to Lonnie and her book.

In exchange for an honest review Revell Reads has provided me a copy of this book. I have written an honest review.