Secrets of the Cat: Its Lore, Legend, and Lives

What is really going on behind those luminous feline eyes?Affectionate yet aloof, intelligent and inquisitive yet dangerously careless, the more-or-less domesticated house cat intrigues us as no other animal can. Now Barbara Holland offers cat lovers a fascinating, funny, and refreshingly candid look at their feline companions: their history, lore, and secrets, and their complicated relations with people and with each other.Secrets of the Cat is a lively appreciation of cats as we know and love them, with witty analysis and fresh observations about felines both high and low. Here are Winston Churchill's ginger tom, who attended cabinet meetings; Teddy Roosevelt's cat, Slippers, who came to dinner; and even the author's own George II, who was bitten by a mouse and adopted by a blue jay. Barbara Holland's warm, vivid speculations on cats' lives and times-on their social, psychic, and mythological legacy, and their impenetrable mysteries-will give readers a delightful cat's-eye view of the world.

Barbara Holland's books include Endangered Pleasures, Hail to the Chiefs, When All the World Was Young, and The Joy of Drinking. Her articles have appeared in Smithsonian, Redbook, and Mademoiselle, among others. She lives in Bluemont, Virginia.