The Secrets of Lost Cats: One Woman, Twenty Posters, and a New Understanding of Love

Debut author Nancy Davidson uncovers the inspiring, funny, and sometimes bizarre stories behind lost cat posters to learn the truths of our relationships with our cats—and each otherNancy Davidson understands the feelings that go into a lost cat poster. When her orange tabby, Zak, disappeared she made one herself. Several days after he went missing, Zak was found. Nancy was ecstatic. Zak seemed happy, too; although being a cat, it was hard to tell.From that moment on, Nancy became acutely aware of lost cat posters. She studied their language, composition, and design. One day, she took a poster home. And then another. Soon, Nancy was collecting lost cat posters. She was drawn to their folk art quality, but mostly she was intrigued by the messages themselves—the stories behind the posters. So she reached out to the owners, calling them to offer sympathy and support. Being a therapist she shouldn’t have been surprised how quickly people confided in her. But she was. What they told her forms the basis of this engaging and insightful book.The Secrets of Lost Cats traces the evolution of Davidson’s obsession with lost cat posters. From the astonishing, almost implausible posters she encounters in New York, Connecticut, Alaska, Spain, and Amsterdam to the daring, deception, dedication, and emotional complexity of the lost cat owners themselves and, ultimately, the insights brought to light by Nancy’s shrewd but never self-serious analysis, The Secrets of Lost Cats provides readers with an absorbing read that illuminates love, loss, and recovery, and the spaces in between.