Author T.J. Banks, in my opinion, is a cat masquerading as a human. She has an innate understanding of the feline mind. Her communication/interaction with cats that is full of patience, knowledge and unconditional love is a gift.
Back in 2014 I had the honor of reading/reviewing her book Houdini, and in 2015 I read and reviewed what remains my FAVORITE book by T.J. Banks,Cat Song
When I had the blog redesigned and somewhat changed its focus, my intention was to no longer do book reviews. When T.J. reached out to me, asking if I would consider reviewing Abys Among Us & Stories for the Feline Inclined, how could I say no to an author who is so obviously gifted? I'm glad I didn't decline.
FROM THE AUTHOR: "Cats walk between worlds, bringing the magical and the common place together. They are the heart-and-soul-menders, our kindred spirits, poetry on four paws, and we humans would be lost without them. At least that's what I believe. Abys Among Us & Stories for the Feline-Inclined is a celebration of the cats I have known and what they have taught me."
Abys Among Us & Stories for the Feline Inclined will have anyone who has lived with and loved cats, nodding their head in recognition.
Many who have lost beloved pets write because they find it to be cathartic. T.J. Banks writes about them and the other animals in her life because she doesn't want to forget them and the great gifts they have given her. "We have spiritual relationships with the animals who come into our lives, and we need to honor those relationships."
My take-away is that each of the cats I have been blessed to share my life with, my Bobo the curmudgeon, (with everyone but me), my cuddly and loving Cody, who healed my broken heart when Bobo passed. While Cody left much too soon, I learned though the way he passed was horrific and tragic, I was not privy to the actual event that took place that caused him to pass, because he DIDN'T WANT ME TO BE. Our bond was such that he knew that if I watched him pass in the horrible manner in which he did, I might not be here today writing this now. When Cody passed, I strongly believed I would never have a cat again, the grief and sadness was overpowering, Our current cat, Roary, has taught me there is ALWAYS room in my heart to love another. I am sure Roary has many more lessons in store for me.
When reading Abys Among Us, and ALL of the books by T.J. Banks, you will be touched by the love, sensitivity, understanding, knowledge and passion for cats that is simply a part of who T.J. Banks IS, (particularly Abyssinians, which are prominently featured in the book, hence the title.) just as I was. There ARE other types of cats in the book as well. I learned how in each stage of her life each cat seemed to appear (or even leave), just when they are supposed to. There are no coincidences in life. Each and every cat we are blessed to know guides us and teaches us lessons, if we are open to learning what those lessons are.
I will leave you with this, a passage from Abys Among Us that sums it up for me, "I'm alone again in the snowy yard. But only technically speaking. "As for me," my old friend Gladys Taber once wrote, "I believe we never lose those we have loved." And if sometimes we feel as though we have, well, they always manage to find us again. The heart--and the soul--that are loved really do remember."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: T.J. Banks is the author of Catsong, A Time for Shadows, Sketch People, Souleiado, and Houdini, which the late writer and activist Cleveland Amory enthusiastically declared " winner." Catsong, a collection of some of her best cat stories, was the winner of the 2007 Merial Human-Animal Bond Award. Her writing has been widely anthologized and received awards from the Cat Writers' Association (CWA), ByLine, and The Writing Self.
