*spoilers!*

I didn't particularly care for this book. It follows the life of a cat named Djibi, who leaves her first home after the boy gets cross with her after their bull dies. Djibi lives in the forest for awhile, catching mice and pheasants. Eventually she is taken in by a teacher and his wife, and she grows close to their dog, Tasso. Tasso is constantly saving Djibi from harm as she prowls around outside. The book touches on her pregnancies and births, but doesn't linger. Multiple tomcats woo her and take up residence inside the teacher's house for awhile, but none stay long. At the end the farmer kills Djibi for attacking his rabbits.

This book deals with a lot of death, from the mice and birds that Djibi catches to the Angora cat named Mira who finally pushes Tasso too far, to the little puppy Wretchy who gets distemper and the tomcat who gets blood poisoning from a rat bite. Death is a part of life, but I feel that had I read this when I was younger I may have disliked this book for the number of deaths alone.

The way that the humans in this book talk is a little stilted, a little strange. Every time the humans speak at length I am jolted out of the story by their strange speech. And they tend to go on and on, especially about God and the strange ways He does things. ( )