Created by therapist turned writer Simon Cole, the books in the White Cat series open with the death of Barbara, a centenarian, and the discovery of her personal effects.
Through letters, items, and belongings from this unknown woman’s life, White Cat cleverly makes one person’s experience a window into the whole world.
Presented as “a not quite fictional mystery”, White Cat keeps you interested and guessing through its unusual structure. Piecing together a life through bits and pieces.
Moving through four generations of a family, this story will feel familiar to anyone interested in family history or the tales we can pull out from photographs or documents.
All of human life is here, from every angle, as we move from one room to another. It has a conversational tone throughout, which is easy and pleasing to read, like a friend is sitting in the room reading their memoirs.
I found this an intriguing book, not knowing really what to expect from one chapter/room to the next. Characters and situations are woven through the book with an expert eye.
The sequel, And Then There Are The Stories, starts both apart and as a part of the original book. Here, there are two main players, and the scope is wider, taking in a Europe recovering from the Second World War and a South Africa in the throes of segregated communities and apartheid.
It is very much a piece of observation and occasional thrills, digging into what makes a person tick. It’s a page turner that baffles and challenges, a sense of place in the world.
Together, Cole’s White Cat series present a meaningful exploration of where we, as human beings, slot in to a world forever chafing against convention.
Both books are available from Amazon and other sites and are independently published. Cole also writes non-fiction, with details on all his books here.
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