Dog in My Footsteps

This book arrived in my hands through one of life’s serendipitious moments—I was browsing BookCloseouts.com during one of their sales, and I saw a book called, Dog in My Footsteps: More stories of a vet’s wife (by Chrystal Sharp).  My brain immediately perked up—dogs?!  vets?!  stories?! —and of course I ordered a copy.  When it arrived I took a quick peek at the back cover and there were mysterious words on it like “East Cape”.  I felt a bit disoriented because the book seemed to assuming that the “East Cape” would be very familiar to me, and then a lightbulb went on.  South Africa!  So, I was getting a book of stories by a vet’s wife which featured dogs and took place in South Africa, and I felt all those things were good, and I began to read.

It’s such a trite description, but the book turned out to be “delightful”.  I think that’s the best word for it—it was charming and funny and unexpected and very real.  It’s the second book in a series of three, and while I didn’t have benefit of reading the first book, I didn’t think I was at any disadvantage.  The chapters are sort of stand-alone, but the book reads as a whole and the events are chronological.  I learned a lot about life in the more isolated areas of South Africa (it made me want to take a vacation there), and grew very fond of the vet’s wife, the vet, and their ever-changing menagerie.  Though not particularly wealthy, they’re very kind and take many unwanted cast-offs in the form of dogs, cats, and even penguins, and they have a genuine love for the individual personalities of each, even the troublemakers.  The most entertaining aspect of this book is that the pets occasionally talk to the author, just making little sarcastic comments or observations, and it’s pretty familiar to readers like me who know that all pets, especially the cats, love to be mouthy. 

There were three difficult things about reading this book.  The first was that I had to learn a new, albeit small, vocabulary, because of words like “bakkie”.  I know now what a bakkie is, ha!  The second was that the pets pass away at an alarming rate, although it’s really not unexpected if you think that the author and her husband are adopting many older animals who otherwise couldn’t find homes.  It’s tough to read when the deaths come in groups, though—I was reading in bed at night, and when a cat died, I thought, “Oh, that’s sad, I’d better read another chapter so I can go to sleep without those sad thoughts in my head”.  But in the next chapter, a dog died.  And then a cat died again.  I was up until three in the morning one night just looking for a reprieve from the rainbow bridge.  The third difficult thing about the book is that the author has written two other books and I can’t get them!  It’s as if someone is holding the perfect piece of chocolate cake just out of my reach and taunting me with it!  Amazon.com does list Chrystal Sharp’s first book, “If the Cat Fits”, but has no copies in stock.  They don’t list her third book, “In Fool Flight” at all, but I found it listed on Amazon.ca (where it’s also out of stock).  Neither title is listed on Bookfinder.com.  My only option right now is to order from Kalahari.net, where the price of shipping would make each book cost about $37.

I really know very little about the author except what I read in the book, but I know she suffers from lupus.  I also read that her husband, “Dave the vet”, recently passed away, which saddens me.  There’s a small photo of her on the Penguin Books South Africa website: Chrystal Sharp.

I may end up giving Dog in My Footsteps: More stories of a vet’s wife away in my book contest next month.  That’s just how much I loved it and want everyone to read it.  If you know of anyone in South Africa who could help me get copies of the author’s other two books at a cost less than a month’s mortgage payment, please have them give me a shout!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 08/16 at 09:26 PM

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  1. I saw myself in your post.  I am one to continue reading just to end on a happy note as well.  LOL

    Good luck finding the books that you are looking for!  smile

    Posted by Expat  on  08/18  at  08:26 PM
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