The Travelling Cat Chronicles - Hiro Arikawa

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I truly am a sucker for a novel that heavily features a cat, especially as it is written by a Japanese author. The Travelling Cat Chronicles is such a basic premise, a man goes on a road trip with his beloved cat to find the said cat a new home, that it amazes me how wonderfully touching the plot is.

Arikawa creates a beautiful relationship between Nana (the cat) and Satoru (the man) despite their lack of ability to communicate. This is a thread that is played out throughout the book with Nana interacting with various humans and animals, quickly establishing a rapport that is not only believable but also enjoyable to the reader.

Above all else, the most endearing part of the novel is the fact is it told through Nana’s perspective! Often we see books with an animal narrator have the narrator act and narrate as if they were human. The Travelling Cat Chronicles, however, makes the reader feel as if they were being told a story by an actual cat. Whether it be an interjection of ‘cat-like confusion’ at beguine human tasks or the narrators bias opinions towards dogs shaping how the canines are presented in the novel.

The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a gorgeous read, it will have you laughing and pulling on your heartstrings. If you need a read on a road trip, why not join Nana and Satoru on theirs?