Cat Lady: The Sunday Times bestseller and the latest funny, brilliant and bold fiction novel for 2023 from the author of So Lucky

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Plot Gary, a down-at-heel London solicitor, goes for a drink with a friend. The next day, the friend goes missing. Meanwhile, Gary meets and falls for a mysterious woman. Could the two be connected? And why does Gary keep having conversations with a slightly belligerent squirrel? The debut novel by comedian Bob Mortimer has the answers. Dawn O’Porter is an author, director, broadcaster, and co-founder of the charity Choose Love. Known for her investigative journalism, Dawn first made a name for herself in front of the camera in her 2007 BBC documentary Super Slim Me. Since then, she’s presented several documentaries covering everything from attitudes to pregnancy and childbirth to polyamory in the USA and breast cancer. In 2014, Dawn hosted This Old Thing, a Channel 4 series she co-produced exploring vintage clothing that she later adapted into a book. I loved seeing Mia grow into her confidence, and allow herself to be who she truly is beneath all the facades she shows everyone. Finally allowing space for those she loves to get close to her, and coming to terms with her past, whilst not letting it define her or suffocate her anymore. It was a truly empowering story, she has a lot of strength and bravery in her, and it was beautiful to see her finally flourishing. I am not a “Crazy Cat Lady”, though. Oh no. According to society’s imagination, that is a spinster in her later years who lives alone with one or more cats. She is, by all accounts, quite odd and a bit sad. It’s all wrapped up in society’s inability to accept that a woman can be satisfied without a man. It’s meant as an insult and used in a derogatory way to suggest someone is unlovable or maybe even selfish for choosing cats over children. If, of course, that was a choice she even got to make. What nonsense.

Cat Lady (Audio Download): Dawn O’Porter, Daisy Haggard Cat Lady (Audio Download): Dawn O’Porter, Daisy Haggard

Plot A fiftysomething woman is devastated when her partner is diagnosed with dementia and his children turf her out of the home they shared. Her partner was insistent that the house should never be sold. But why? Graham Norton, now an established author in addition to his TV and radio career, finds out. Main character Gary, a man with a job that Mortimer used to have, in the same location where Mortimer used to work. He also has the exact same cadence, vocabulary and thought processes as Mortimer, as seen in his long digressions about pies. That said, Gary is described as having a slightly larger nose than Mortimer, so they are definitely different people. Every woman who owns a cat will want this Dawn O’Porter book. Photograph: Dave M Benett/Getty Images

As always, Dawn O'Porter writes unforgettable, quirky characters and stories that stay with you, for both good and bad reasons. But the good far outweighs the bad.

Dawn O’Porter X Joanie | Vintage-Inspired Collaboration Range Dawn O’Porter X Joanie | Vintage-Inspired Collaboration Range

Animals bring people together. Cats make people who might otherwise be alone, not alone. There is nothing crazy about a woman just because she lives alone with cats. Well, that’s not what I see anyway. I see someone who has a lot of love in their heart who chooses to take care of a cat who needs her as much as she needs it. For me, it’s a sign of a person with a huge heart, not a cold one. Unless she’s got a dead one in her dining room, of course. Then she’s probably as batty as they come. Although my husband was sad, there was no one who felt the same way as me, and therefore I dealt with her death in the way that felt right for me and no one else. I had her freeze-dried, a process where she was dehydrated using extremely cold temperatures over the course of 10 months, preserving her perfectly to look just as she did on the day she died, and now she sits happily, but 100% dead, on a chair in my dining room. See, I told you I was a Cat Lady. Really gets the reader to think about what matters in life Unputdownable and completely wonderful!’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Next came a dog, then two children. Despite being a difficult old bag, she welcomed them all with love. Labouring with me as I prepared to leave for hospital with my first, then sitting quietly on the floor as I delivered our second at home on our bed. The midwife said she’d never known an animal to be so well behaved during a birth. I was as proud of her as I was my beautiful baby boy. When he was out and things were quiet, she jumped up and sat on my legs, where she remained almost constantly as I breastfed and watched terrible TV for the next few months.

Dawn O’Porter on the secret to a long marriage Dawn O’Porter on the secret to a long marriage

I enjoyed this one, if you're already a fan of the author's writing, you'll love it. If you like quirky characters and some bizarre, laugh out loud scenarios, then you'll also love it.I’ve also always wanted to have fun with my clothes, but when you grow up on a small island like Guernsey you’ve got to be really brave to break away from what everyone else is doing. So I used to follow the herd, even though I knew I wanted to look different. Then, in my early 20s, I discovered vintage and that’s when it came together. After I gave up on modern fashion it was such a relief and everything made sense. I was raised by a dressmaker – my uncle made furs – and he’d turn clothes inside out and show me how they were stitched together, and I have so much sensory nostalgia for what my mum was like. I was always a funny little girl who was theatrical, but after my mum died I became even more so. I didn’t want anyone to mention the elephant in the room. I became the kid who spent more time trying to make people laugh than learning, and failed at everything as a result. The joking around was annoying, but I just couldn’t stop doing it. I got pulled up on it when I went to drama school years later. A teacher said to me: “You hide your pain by trying to make people laugh.” Like it was some really negative thing! I thought: “At least I’m not being miserable, and if that’s the reflex reaction to what I’ve been through, I’m not going to be ashamed of it. I’m going to embrace it.” Main character Sally, a woman who gleefully rediscovers her can-do attitude when all the unnecessary peripherals start to fall away. Cover quote “His grasp of human loneliness and longing is beautiful and comforting” – Marian Keyes (again). Previous works Two other Thursday Murder Club books, Richard Osman’s House of Games, A Pointless History of the World, The World Cup of Everything: Bringing the Fun Home.