Click here to buy this book! Kindle Edition Amazon Lulu gattara maria Amazon Barnes and Noble Category:  Poetry Publisher: Lulu Publishing Service Type: Fiction Pages: 44 Copyright: Aug 6, 2015 ISBN-13: 9781483436104 Price: $3.99 (eBook) An elderly gattara (cat lady) in Rome tends feral colonies and has secret powers for those who truly love. To any tourist in Rome, Old Maria may seem to be an eccentric soul who feeds stray cats and thinks she can talk with them. Things are rarely as they seem. In fact, she can. A dying cardinal has given Maria a final, urgent wish. His time is running short. On the surface, it seems impossible to grant. Things are rarely as they seem. Especially with Maria and her cats at work. And for those who truly love, the impossible is only an illusion. What you think you see, may well be something quite different.   Excerpt Among these cats, Egyptian Bast, Whose shining coat is unsurpassed, Is showing off her kittens fine, Where she holds court, beneath a pine. There’s Ercole, he’s white and bold, Venere, has eyes of gold, Atena, with her brilliant mind, To gain more wisdom, is inclined.

Cat Ladies Meet! Cool!
I, myself, have been called Cat Lady by nearby neighbor children... Right now I have ten cats at my home, three of them "strangers when we met..." Once they meet me, they normally stay, even if some won't let me near them... Charlie, for instance, knew his name right away and stops if I call out to him, but will never let me come close, his eyes registering fear and distrust...Yet, he's stayed and found a home here and I can tell he feels safe and is well-fed even if he still is fearful...So when Mary Schmidt wrote and asked me about reviewing her book, I quickly said, as I always do, that I have no background in poetry...but I quickly said that I loved cats... The book got here quite quickly I must say! And I soon met the Cat Lady of Rome...

The book is beautifully done with just eight lines on each page and readers, like myself, will pause on each, considering the lives of the cat and that of old Maria, who like myself, provides food for cats... Others will read straight through the book, considering the rhyming words, the rhythm to be found, but, truth be told, it is the story that is what captures my attention, of course...

Now you may think that this book is all about cats, but that is just not so! You see, The Cat Lady was called into the home of a local Cardinal, Mezzaluna, who also needed her help!

Well, there's lots more to learn about what the Cat Lady was asked to do...you know, when I read a rhyming poem, it seems, I'm often drawn to rhyme as well! Anyway, this poem is exactly 31-pages long and ends with a mention that invites readers...When in Rome... that a certain gattara (cat lady) may just be able to find someone for you...Who Knew!

But, of course, there is a call for kindness to the feral cat colonies...because the cats are waiting for you there! Visit them! I must point out that this long poem is really a very sweet short story that many lovers...of cats or otherwise...will deem to be a perfect little story that provides an excellent way to escape reality...and even head to Rome for a short visit! Cool, right?!!! Highly recommended...

GABixlerReviews

Modern Day Folktale in a Narrative Poem
Jaffa Kintigh
A modern day folktale comes to life in this narrative poem of 125 tightly metered rhyming couplets ending with a message.

A Cat Lady, Maria, in Rome goes out of her way to feed the feral cats. At least one passerby call the cat lady a witch [Strega], and they are likely right for she talks to cats and they talk back. In particular, she has befriended Bast, a mother cat, and her three curious kittens.

She tells Bast and the kits that kindly Cardinal Mezzaluna, who makes sure the cats get fed, had a mission for the Cat Lady, which also shows that he accepts her abilities. He confesses that he loved a woman, Anne Marie, but due to his vows, they swore to part and never see each other again in this life. In his dying state, he longs to know if she remembers him.

Maria uses a spell to detect the Cardinal's love and it pulls across the sea to America where Anne-Marie reveals that she respected his vows and his love--she never forgot and never took another love. The Cat Lady is able to let him know before he dies, after which the feral cats of Rome lead Mezzaluna to his afterlife.

The kits are distraught that the obits mention his wondrous deeds, but not his love . . .

I received my copy of this narrative poem directly from the author through bookreviewdirectory.wordpress.com.

Folk Story Esq Poetry book
Whispering stories book blog

**I received a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review**

Maria can talk to the feral cats in her city, and the cats can talk back to her. Some think that Maria is a ‘Strega’ (Witch). This maybe true, as Maria uses her abilities to cast a spell for a dying man, to see if the woman he has always loved, loved him too.

The book is written in poetry form and tells the tale just as if it was a folk story. The verses flowed easily into one another, and it is a book that must be devoured in one sitting to fully understand it. Although at only 44 pages long (according to Amazon), this shouldn’t be a problem, though to really truly grasp the meaning of the story, read it slowly and let the verses sink in.

I've never been one for poetry, but since blogging I've been asked to review a few books that are either poetry books or tell their stories in poetry form. This is a genre that is growing on me and I am becoming to love.

Well done Mary on creating a beautiful story, that is not only heat-warming, but emotional, both happy and sad at the same time. Thank you for sharing the beauty of the Gattara in Rome.