Stanley and Sophie (Kate Jennings, Knopf, $29.95 hb, ISBN 9781741667493, May) ***

A book to appeal to animal lovers, Stanley and Sophie is about one woman’s journey after the death of her husband and the two dogs that join her along the way. Australian-born Kate Jennings, the author, lives in New York and after her husband dies, she ends up giving a terrier called Stanley a home. Later on, Jennings and Stanley are joined by Sophie. After various adventures in New York City and in country homes, Jennings decides to part with the dogs and visit her brother in Bali, where she immediately forms a similar relationship as she had with the dogs, this time with the household monkeys. The story seems to meander, not really sure of the point—first focusing on Jennings’ grief about losing her husband to Alzheimer’s, then on the joy the dogs bring, then her need to downsize and get away takes over, and once she is away, the focus turns to her need to return. At times, the language about each of the dogs can be overly anthropomorphic—in fact, it can be downright mushy. A great book for all those people who loved Marley and Me by John Grogan.

Jessica Broadbent is a former bookseller who continues to work in the publishing industry

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: kate jennings