The Writer's Cats

By Muriel Barbery and Maria Guitart

From the bestselling author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog comes this delightful tale that pays tribute to Japanese philosophy and our feline friends.

What a mysterious, confounding thing is a writer! Yet, spend a little time with the writer’s cats and one might just understand her better.

Muriel Barbery, via her cats and co-conspirators, takes readers into her atelier, offering them a behind-the-scenes peek into her process and problems, joys and disappointments. The tale is told from the perspective of one of the writer’s four cats, Kirin, who, together with her cohort, may or may not be a reliable narrator. There’s Ocha, the leader of the gang, a tough guy with a soft heart; the bandy-legged and affectionate Mizu, Ocha’s sister; the phlegmatic and refined Petrus, lover of flowers; and finally, pretty Kirin, narrator of this bewitching story.

A superb, funny, and touching text for writers, readers, fans of Muriel Barbery’s bestselling novels, and cat lovers.

“Barbery’s poetic prose and Maria Guitart’s enchanting illustrations are an irresistible combination that readers will love to cozy up to and lose themselves in for a moment.” —Booklist

“Creative types of all stripes—especially cat lovers—will be enchanted by Barbery’s fun and delightfully philosophical storytelling.” —Shelf Awareness

“A book of few words delightfully illustrated by Maria Guitart . . . readers will be entranced by the detailed portrayal of Barbery’s ménage, her domestic habits and customs, her obsession with order, her writing routine, and so much more.” —La Stampa (Italy)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9781609457174

Muriel Barbery

Muriel Barbery is the author of six previous novels, including the IMPAC-shortlisted, multimillion-copy bestseller The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Published in France in 2006 and in the UK in 2008, the novel was translated in 44 countries, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide, and was described by Le Figaro as ‘the publishing phenomenon of the decade’. Barbery has lived in Kyoto, Amsterdam and Paris and now lives in the French countryside.

Book preview

ALSO BY Muriel Barbery

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Gourmet Rhapsody

The Life of Elves

A Strange Country

A Single Rose

The Writer’s Cats

To my Pepito

To Karole Armitage

To my family

To Matilda and Aleix,

stay wild and keep on smiling

cat

First of all, let me make one thing clear: we like our writer. She’s kind. She never forgets when it’s time for our meal. She doesn’t scream when she sees a dead mouse. She tosses bottle corks to us (our favorite game at aperitif time) while she’s drinking wine (which is not infrequent). She takes us to the vet the minute we fart out of tune. We really do like her.

But enough is enough.

I’ll tell you straight: without us, our writer would not be the writer she is. I don’t know if she’d be worse or better, but she’d be different, that’s all. Why? Because even if we can’t speak, we are peerless literary advisors.

How can a cat claim to be a literary advisor? you might wonder (and rightfully so). I shall explain.

catcatcat

But first allow me to introduce our tribe. We are four Chartreux cats, which means we have gray fur and orange eyes. When our writer’s best friend saw us for the first time, he said, "They go