Lily and the Octopus
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4.8 • 5 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
‘Intelligently written, finely observed and surprisingly moving, this is a book you’ll find hard to put down’ GRAEME SIMSION, author of The Rosie Project
Companions come in all shapes and sizes.
Companionship lasts forever.
Ted and Lily -
Enjoy long walks.
Watch films together.
Have been known to share a pizza.
Love each other fiercely.
Have been inseparable for 12 years.
But there is one more twist to come in this tail …
A charming, heartfelt and unforgettable novel about life, love and long walks, perfect for fans of Marley and Me and The Art of Racing in the Rain.
'An utterly charming novel' RED
‘Singular, spectacular, and touchingly tentacular’ CHRIS CLEAVE
'Hilarious. Heartbreaking. Weeping buckets. You'll love it' PATRICK NESS
'Lily and the Octopus is the dog book you must read this summer ... Reading this heart-wrenching but ultimately breathtaking novel was a very profound experience … As Lily might say, ‘YOU! MUST! READ! THIS! BOOK!' WASHINGTON POST
'Will steal your heart' DAILY MAIL
'Peppered with laughter and heart-tugging moments' SUN
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
It’s rare for a book to so perfectly capture the love between man and pet. Screenwriter Steven Rowley’s debut novel is kooky, charming and deeply affecting. Unhappy L.A. singleton Ted is the proud owner of a talking 12-year-old dachshund named Lily. They play board games together and debate the attractiveness of Hollywood’s leading men. Their domestic bliss is ruptured by Ted’s discovery of Lily’s “octopus”—a strange tumour he also can communicate with. This heartbreakingly warm tale will hook any animal lover.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Screenwriter Rowley's sensitive, hilarious, and emotionally rewarding debut novel explores the effect that pets can have on human lives. Teddy is unhappily single in L.A. In between sessions with his therapist and dates with men he meets online, it is his beloved 12-year-old dachshund, Lily, who occupies his heart. Curiously, Teddy is able to communicate with Lily, with whom he debates the attractiveness of male celebrities and plays board games. Distressingly, he is also able to communicate with the "octopus" attached to the little dog's head, which is soon revealed to be a metaphor for Lily's lethal cranial tumor. Complicating matters is the increasing prevalence of Lily's seizures and the looming inevitability of her demise. The intimacy of pet ownership is sweetly suffused throughout this heartwarming autobiographical fiction, originally written as self-therapy for the author's own grief. In generous helpings of bittersweet humanity, Rowley has written an immensely poignant and touchingly relatable tale that readers (particularly animal lovers) will love.
Customer Reviews
Great read
From the start to the end this book kept my eyes moist and with more than a tear or two. Superbly written, witty and sad but a very easy read too. As the owner of two Dachshunds, both boys, I was able to emphasise entirely with Lily’s personality traits, they are a terrific breed. many thanks for a wonderful read.