A very unusual read!
Firstly, thank you Readers First for this copy. I was over the moon to find that I was one of the lucky winners!
It's London, 2006, and Kate has had enough of the corporate world. Following another mishap at work, she decides to start a dog walking business much to the chagrin of her mother and her supportive, but 'are you doing the right thing Kate?' fiancé Finlay.
The book is not a novel, yet its style was a combination of descriptive and narrative, commonly found in works of fiction. Chapters are replaced with a contents page listing all of the names of the dogs walked by Kate or her walkers allowing the reader to dip in and out rather than following from the beginning. I was not expecting that at all. To be honest, I felt cheated as I wanted a novel with traditional chapters! But it did not last long. Told by the author Kate MacDougall the book chronicles her experiences of dog walking dog-by-dog. Each dog is afforded their own section of the book. Kate is talking to you and no one else. She is telling you her story: why she set up a dog walking business. She does not gloss over the bad bits - poo and all! Her inexperience and naivety is clear and you can see it is a steep, very steep, learning curve for her.
It is a nice, gentle easy to follow read. What Kate lacks in experience, she makes up for in her deep love for her charges.
I particularly liked how each she combines each dog story with realisations, opinions and changes about her own life. What a unique idea.
There comedic exchanges between Kate and one of her walkers Rupert. Rupert is being hit on by Carl, one of her clients. In an anxious phone call between Kate and Rupert, he tells her: '...if he touches me at all, I am going to have to take him out.' Kate replies: 'Out? Where?' Rupert replies: 'Out. Like down. Take him down.' To which Kate has a vivid image of a SWAT team or similar piling on top of Carl!
I love the dogs, but the owners are stupid in their expectations. And I shed a few tears for one dog in particular.
I will do a longer review and post it on my blog/Goodreads profile.
It's London, 2006, and Kate has had enough of the corporate world. Following another mishap at work, she decides to start a dog walking business much to the chagrin of her mother and her supportive, but 'are you doing the right thing Kate?' fiancé Finlay.
The book is not a novel, yet its style was a combination of descriptive and narrative, commonly found in works of fiction. Chapters are replaced with a contents page listing all of the names of the dogs walked by Kate or her walkers allowing the reader to dip in and out rather than following from the beginning. I was not expecting that at all. To be honest, I felt cheated as I wanted a novel with traditional chapters! But it did not last long. Told by the author Kate MacDougall the book chronicles her experiences of dog walking dog-by-dog. Each dog is afforded their own section of the book. Kate is talking to you and no one else. She is telling you her story: why she set up a dog walking business. She does not gloss over the bad bits - poo and all! Her inexperience and naivety is clear and you can see it is a steep, very steep, learning curve for her.
It is a nice, gentle easy to follow read. What Kate lacks in experience, she makes up for in her deep love for her charges.
I particularly liked how each she combines each dog story with realisations, opinions and changes about her own life. What a unique idea.
There comedic exchanges between Kate and one of her walkers Rupert. Rupert is being hit on by Carl, one of her clients. In an anxious phone call between Kate and Rupert, he tells her: '...if he touches me at all, I am going to have to take him out.' Kate replies: 'Out? Where?' Rupert replies: 'Out. Like down. Take him down.' To which Kate has a vivid image of a SWAT team or similar piling on top of Carl!
I love the dogs, but the owners are stupid in their expectations. And I shed a few tears for one dog in particular.
I will do a longer review and post it on my blog/Goodreads profile.