Cleo

Cleo

Helen Brown wasn't a cat person, but her nine-year-old son Sam was. So when Sam heard a woman telling his mum that her cat had just had kittens, Sam pleaded to go and see them.

Helen's heart melted as Sam held one of the kittens in his hands with a look of total adoration. In a trice the deal was done - the kitten would be delivered to them when she was big enough to leave her mother.

A week later, the family suffered a terrible tragedy. Totally traumatised by it, Helen completely forgot all about the kitten until a little black bundle of fur was delivered to her doorstep.

Helen was ready to send the kitten back, but it wasn't long before Cleo's zest for life made the grieving family laugh again. Cleo went on to become the uppity high priestess of the household, vetoing visitors (in an uncannily spot-on way), terrifying dogs and building a very special bond with her human servants (aka the family).

Helen Brown was born and brought up in New Zealand. After attending school in New Plymouth she studied journalism and became a cadet reporter with The Dominion. After meeting and marrying a Brit, Helen lived in England briefly before returning to New Zealand and having two sons, Sam and Rob. She became a popular columnist for The Dominion and her first book had recently been published when Sam was run over and killed. After the birth of her daughter, Lydia, Helen's marriage broke up and she moved to Auckland to work for the Auckland Star as a feature writer and columnist. Helen met and married Philip Gentry in 1991. Their family moved en masse to Melbourne in 1997, though Helen continues to write columns for the New Zealand media, where she's been voted Columnist of the Year several times.

Cleo
Allen and Unwin
Author: Helen Brown
ISBN: 9781742373904
Price: $22.99