In the winter of 2013-14, while I was living in Ontario in my late mother’s house, my husband was home in Nova Scotia and had to deal with the death of both of our dogs. Wes, our Labrador Retriever, was old and arthritic and we had known that that would be his last winter. But Farlow, our Valley Bulldog mix, was still young and vital, and died suddenly of a cancerous tumour that burst.

If you have, or have had, dogs, you know the heartache we suffered: Bill, alone with the dogs and decisions; and me, a thousand miles away, not being able to say goodbye at all.

All this to explain why, in May, I chose to have dog-themed reading month, as a tribute to all the faithful canine companions of my life.
 

1. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (Fiction, Contemporary, Animal-narrated)

There are two books that I read in May 2014 that I rated 4½ stars at the time, but that have stayed with me so that now, at this review, I have raised the ratings to a full five stars. The Art of Racing the Rain is one of those books.

It’s narrated by wise old dog Enzo, who has learned from his master Denny about race car driving. In turn, Enzo now has much to teach Denny.

This is never saccharine nor manic and, if you are going to read only one animal-narrated book in your life, this should probably be it. Beware, though: the ending is only bittersweet. 5 stars

2. Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst (Fiction, Literary, Contemporary)

This is the second book on which I’m raising the 4½ stars to a full five. This book continues to haunt me.

From Amazon: “(A)fter his wife Lexy dies after falling from a tree, linguistics professor Paul Iverson becomes obsessed with teaching their dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Lorelei (the sole witness to the tragedy), to speak so he can find out the truth about Lexy’s death(.)”

Some reviewers have taken exception to the extent of Paul’s obsession, in my opinion missing the point of what it really is: a brilliant journey into the mind of a deeply grieving man. 5 stars
 
3. White Dog Fell From the Sky by Eleanor Morse (Fiction, Recent Historical, Literary)

In mid-1970s apartheid S. Africa, medical student Isaac Muthethe has himself smuggled out of the country into Botswana. He is in danger in his home country because he witnessed the murder of a friend by white members of the South African Defense Force. He is hired as a gardener by a young American woman, Alice Mendelssohn, who has followed her husband to Africa. The white dog of the title is a stray that shows up just when Isaac is dropped off in Botswana, and that attaches itself to the young man.

This book made me aware of the issue of cattle-farm fences across Africa, which cut off wildlife from their families and from water supplies. It also sharpened my understanding of the apartheid situation in South Africa, especially after Isaac is extradited and tortured.

This is not Precious Ramotswe’s Botswana. This is a powerful and moving book that should have received more attention than it did. 4½ bright stars
 
4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon (Fiction, Literary)

Amazon says: “Narrated by a fifteen-year-old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable of processing emotions.”

Christopher finds the body of his neighbour’s dog, murdered by a pitch fork and decides to track down the killer. His canvassing of the neighbourhood uncovers secrets that the reader understands but Christopher probably does not.

Haddon brilliantly portrays the mind of an autistic teenager while tying all the threads of evidence together. 4½ stars
 
5. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (Fiction, Science Fiction, Time-travel)

Amazon says (now pay attention): “To Say Nothing of the Dog is a science-fiction fantasy in the guise of an old-fashioned Victorian novel, complete with epigraphs, brief outlines, and a rather ugly boxer in three-quarters profile at the start of each chapter. Or is it a Victorian novel in the guise of a time-traveling tale, or a highly comic romp, or a great, allusive literary game, complete with spry references to Dorothy L. Sayers, Wilkie Collins, and Arthur Conan Doyle? Its title is the subtitle of Jerome K. Jerome’s singular, and hilarious, Three Men in a Boat. In one scene the hero, Ned Henry, and his friends come upon Jerome, two men, and the dog Montmorency in–you guessed it–a boat. Jerome will later immortalize Ned’s fumbling. (Or, more accurately, Jerome will earlier immortalize Ned’s fumbling, because Ned is from the 21st century and Jerome from the 19th.)”

Confused? I was too. I love time travel but I wish that I had been more familiar with some of the eccentricities of Connie Willis’ time travel before I read this book. Better, I think, to start with Blackout, which I read in May 2015. That said, this is indeed a “comedic romp”, sometimes confusing and extremely clever. 4 stars
 
6. Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis (Fiction, Science-fiction)

Amazon: “Created by a German mad scientist in the 19th century, the monster dogs possess human intelligence, speak human language, have prosthetic humanlike hands and walk upright on hind legs. The dogs’ descendants arrive in New York City in the year 2008, still acting like Victorian-era aristocrats.”

Although this was well-written and interesting, I wasn’t as caught up in the tragic lives of these dogs as I should have been. 3½ stars
 
7. The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs by Nick Trout (Fiction)

Cyrus Mills inherits his father’s veterinary practice and returns to his hometown with the intention of selling the business and leaving again. Of course, his patients change his mind.

The author graduated from veterinary school at the University of Cambridge, and is a staff surgeon at the prestigious Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, so the details are authentic.

This is articulate, light commercial fiction with a happy ending, and a sequel- if you like this sort of thing. 3 stars

8. Southern Cross the Dog by Bill Cheng

First, I discovered that the “dog” is really a railroad: where the Southern crosses the (Yellow) Dog is a place where two railroad lines—the U.S. Southern and the Yazoo Delta—cross in Moorhead, Mississippi.

Which should have been wonderful, since I really love railroads. But this book is a debut centering on the Great Flood of 1927 along the Mississippi, a tragedy that killed 246 people and left countless families homeless. The flood led to the great migration of African American families toward other states, and Bill Cheng’s first novel hones in on one fictional family whose experiences seem to represent an endless cycle of grief and loss.

This was a chance for a rich history lesson for me but, I don’t know, maybe I was just getting worn out again with the sorting and packing. I was greatly disappointed. 2½ stars

* * * * *

I was satisfied with my ‘tribute” and really happy with the range of books this theme brought me, although I would have liked to have included a non-fiction tome. Have you any suggestions for me?

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

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