They Call Me the Cat Lady by Amy Miller is a lovely novel that ruminates on society's tendency to label certain individuals without knowing anything of their personal histories or circumstances. I delighted in discovering Nancy's story, and relished the reminder that everyone is fighting a battle that we know nothing of, so be kind, always.

Nancy Jones is known in her community as the 'cat lady', a woman who has all but shut herself off from any kind of social connection, instead favouring the companionship of her feline friends. Nancy could never have imagined that her life would turn out this way. Yet, several devastating life events have led Nancy to protect herself from further grief by limiting herself to minimal social contact. Nancy works at a school in a job that she loves, and gradually begins to open her heart to a boy called Alfie who is being bullied, while at the same time enduring a difficult home life. But it is when she reconnects with an old school friend of her daughter's that Nancy's life begins to open up to the possibilities of re-engaging with the world.

Nancy Jones is a beautifully-written and well-developed character, and the author, I think, does an excellent job of conveying that although this woman has suffered immense tragedy in her life, she is a beautiful soul who is willing to put aside her own fears for the benefit of the friends and animals she cares for so deeply. Nancy's story is a lovely reminder that not one of us is left unscathed by this life, so never judge a man (or woman) until you have walked a mile in his (or her) shoes.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this wonderful ARC.

This is the first book I’ve read by Amy Miller it won’t be the last.
I wasn’t sure what this book was going to be about as the blurb doesn’t give much away (I love this fact) I was drawn to it as I’m a bit of a cat lady myself.
It was a little slow at the beginning to get into but once I had got into the characters the story really picked up and I didn’t know what was going to happen next.
A heart warming emotional story that made me laugh and cry.
So true too that we really don’t know what’s gone on in people’s lives.
Really enjoyed the book.

Whata lovely book this is. It is a gentle but clear sighted account of the life of Nancy whose life has taken a series of unfortunate and eventually tragic turns as she suffers bereavements and losses and finds herself ultimately isolated and reliant on her rescue cats as her solace. It is an insightful and engaging gem of a book, where the reader cares about this ultimately hugely likeable central character. The pace of the story takes us through a hectic and eventful period in Nancy's life's where spdespite her capacity for misinterpreting others she forges new connections and renews old acquaintance. This was one of the books for which the blurb gives little away and where the reading pleasingly exceeds your expectation. I'd thoroughly recommend for anyone who likes to explore character in depth.

Well, thank goodness I had a box of tissues in the house. This is a story of loss, and grief and healing. It's about isolation and the importance of human contact. It's not a comedy about a mad cat woman, although there's certainly a chuckle or two along the way. So now that's established, let's focus...this is a story about Nancy Jones, a middle-aged lady who lives in a rundown house with her cats for company and they're a fabulous bunch. She works at a local school; has started being an animal sitter for when people go away and befriends a young boy who is being bullied. One day she meets up with him and takes him with her to help feed a cat; it is here that Nancy makes a discovery that deeply upsets her. This begins the start of Nancy looking back into her past and we slowly find out why Nancy lives alone.
This is a deeply moving book exploring the effects of deep grief and loss, but is it also about healing. About remembering that despite outward appearances, we never know a person's story and sometimes maybe we should. It's about facing our demons, being brave and having the courage and faith in others to help you. This book is emotional but it also gave me hope.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the review copy

This book looked very interesting, and the cover is gorgeous, so I jumped at the chance to read it on Netgalley. Nancy Jones is a kind, caring woman, living in an old house with its overgrown garden and family of cats. To an outsider she may come across as the epitome of lonely, the stereotypical 'cat lady', but nobody knows her story, the reason why she is alone. Through memories and unexpected meetings with people from her past, Nancy finds herself slowly coming to terms with the grief that destroyed her life, that led such a compassionate, nurturing person to end up alone.

Admittedly I found this book quite slow at first, but it becomes more intriguing half way through. Even so, this is a wonderfully written, thought-provoking and often heartbreaking story that explores loneliness in society, grief, and new beginnings.

#TheyCallMeTheCatLady #NetGalley

So, I thought this was a fun book. It is not. The term "heart wrenching" comes to mind. I got over that this is not funny, and I did enjoy this book.

This poor cat lady has had a sad life of painful tragedies. The storyline is told in flashbacks as Nancy (mc) tries to live a quiet life, while wondering if she can step out of her comfortable life of cats and small niceities to bullied children. She seems to have spent about 20 yrs trying to go unnoticed and suddenly realized it has not helped with her grief or guilt.

She reconnects with someone from her past who has done the opposite- spent 20 yrs trying to live as much as possible and stand out- and they are in the same place- lonely and unhappy.

As Nancy begins to allow more people in her life and try new (and old) things she begins to live again. She reconnects with the tragedies in her past and begins to have hope that her life may go on.

As with other books, this one is lacking in diversity, although there is one gay character. There is some good opportunities to talk about how different (and difficult) it could be to come out 20 yrs ago, but that was kinda muted.

In the end, the book is hopeful with Nancy learning to forgive herself and live with her grief.

I figured this was going to be a light read but it totally was not. This was a very emotional story but all of the characters worked well and I enjoyed reading about Nancy and her life.

Definitely not a feel good read throughout but the ending was simply lovely. There are some small flaws and some strange references for the time frames but I can discount those because the overall tale worked so well.

I'm going to try some more books by this author in the future.

Description
You’ve seen me on the street. You’ve walked past my house, and pointed, and wondered. The cat lady. All on my own, with only my five cats to keep me company. Did no-one ever tell you that you can’t judge a book by its cover?

Everyone in town knows Nancy Jones. She loves her cats. She loves her tumbledown house by the sea. She loves her job in the local school where she tries to help the children who need help the most. Nancy tries hard not to think about her past loves and where those led her…

Nancy never shares her secrets – because some doors are better kept locked. But one day she accepts a cat-sitting request from a local woman, and at the woman’s house, Nancy sees a photograph, in a bright-red frame. A photograph that opens the door to her painful past…

Soon Nancy doesn’t know what frightens her the most: letting her story out or letting the rest of the world in. It’s impossible to find companionship without the risk of losing it. But can Nancy take that risk again?

This was a very touching, beautiful book. Nancy is someone you do connect with. She is such a caring, kind woman. A lovely, kind story about the people we often overlook, the people more worthy than most of the rest of us. It touched my soul and heart. Beautiful. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy for review.

Being a cat lady myself I will joyed this book. There were a lot of themes in the book that were well wriiten. I enjoyed it and needed a delightful book I could not put down. The characters were described well. I almost feel like there were "nine lives" in the book. A fun read.

A lovely read,read it over the weekend fell right into the story the characters didn’t want it to end. #netgalley #bookoture

This is a gentle story about the local "cat lady", who is reality has a tragic past and has turned to her beloved cats and her work at a local elementary school to soothe her troubled heart. A lovely, kind story about the people we often overlook, the people more worthy then most of the rest of us