The Captive Reader

I have been having an odd sort of month, watching as my coworkers and superiors have been let go, waiting for it to be my turn.  And waiting.  And waiting.  I am perfectly at peace with leaving the company but I have been longing to know when exactly that would happen so I could start planning around it.  Now, finally, I know and it looks like tomorrow will be my last day.  This is delightful news and the timing is excellent (it means I’ll be heading off to California immediately) but while I was waiting for confirmation (which I only just got last night) I spent a lot of time reading light, fluffy books.  There is no point worrying about something you can’t control but I was doing that nonetheless: reading was the only reliable distraction.

One of the most enjoyable of the books I sped through in the last week was Puppy Love by Frauke Scheunemann.  Published in Germany in 2010, it is the first in a series of books but so far this looks like the only title that has been translated into English.  I saw it in House of Anansi’s catalogue last spring, asked if they would please send me a copy, and then let it sit on my shelf unread for a year.  But my timing turned out to be perfect: this week, a romantic comedy narrated by a dachshund was exactly what I needed.

When Carl-Leopold von Eschersbach, a dachshund whose mother is one of the distinguished von Eschersbach dachshunds (the less said about his father the better), finds himself rescued from a Hamburg animal shelter by the lovely Caroline, his life begins to change.  First, he finds himself with a new name, Hercules, and then he finds himself with a new friend and neighbour, the cat Mr Beck.  Already devoted to Caroline, Hercules takes it upon himself to first rid his owner of her awful, cheating boyfriend and then to find her a better mate.  Mr Beck, being more knowledgeable about human relationships than the young dog, becomes Hercules’ partner in his endeavour.  Caroline might be drawn to the wrong men but Hercules knows exactly what she needs in a companion, as he tells Mr Beck:

“She simply doesn’t know what would be good for her.”

“Oh, and you do?”

“Exactly.  I do know.  We’ll simply find a man I’d be happy to go hunting with.  A man who befits her high standards, of course; Caroline is not just any woman.  But also someone who would be a loyal master to his dog, who would treat him well, feed him daily and take him for lots of walks, because anyone who would treat his dog like that would surely treat his wife well. But Caroline simply doesn’t pay attention to these basic things.”

There is no shortage of candidates for Caroline’s affections: her friend and work partner Daniel would be very happy to get closer, a handsome actor pursues her after a chance meeting, and the vet, despite Hercules’ aversion to him, proves to be another strong contender.  Thanks to Hercules’ hard work, Caroline does, in the end, find the right man.

Told entirely from Hercules’ perspective, this was a very fun, sweet book.  Hercules’ confusion over human behaviour (especially male-female relationships) is amusing and his determination and relentless optimism were so very dog-like and endearing.  I am not sure I could handle an entire series written from his perspective (the fourth book is being published in April) but this book was very cute and the perfect distraction for me this week.