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The Blanket Cats

by Kiyoshi Shigematsu

Seven brief stays, seven lives in flux

Regular price $22.67 USD
Regular price $37.79 USD Sale price $22.67 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Critical praise

    Praised as “Utterly charming” by Shelby Van Pelt

    Praise for the book: “Utterly charming” and “I would read a hundred of these stories.”

AlbakiReads Editorial

Seven brief stays, seven lives in flux

In Tokyo, a peculiar pet shop lends out special cats for exactly three days, with strict rules about their food and a distinctive blanket. The novel connects seven customers through these temporary visits, ranging from a couple facing infertility to a woman fleeing the police and families seeking joy. The cats’ mysterious nature unsettles the idea that companionship will deliver the change their hosts expect. Across its linked stories, the book considers how a short-lived bond can shift someone’s view of a difficult or familiar reality, even when it cannot resolve the circumstances that brought them to the shop.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in linked stories centered on distinct customers and their circumstances.
  • Readers drawn to fiction involving animals, unusual encounters, and questions of companionship.
  • Readers looking for adult literary fiction set in Tokyo.

Themes

CompanionshipExpectation and changeInfertility and family lifeSeeking joy

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

"Utterly charming . . . I would read a hundred of these stories." --Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures

Seven struggling customers are given the unique opportunity to take home a "blanket cat" . . . but only for three days, the time it'll take to change their lives.


A peculiar pet shop in Tokyo has been known to offer customers the unique opportunity to take home one of seven special cats, whose "magic" is never promised, but always received. But there are rules: these cats must be returned after three days. They must eat only the food supplied by the owner, and they must travel to their new homes with a distinctive blanket.

In The Blanket Cats, we meet seven customers, each of whom is hoping a temporary feline companion will help them escape a certain reality, including a couple struggling with infertility, a middle-aged woman on the run from the police, and two families in very different circumstances simply seeking joy.

But like all their kind, the "blanket cats" are mysterious creatures with unknowable agendas, who delight in confounding expectations. And perhaps what their hosts are looking for isn't really what they need. Three days may not be enough to change a life. But it might just change how you see it.
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