Author(s): C. Francisco

General Fiction

Mari is a cat surviving by her claws on the fringes of the Judean desert. Yeshua is a man with healing hands, seeking solitude in the wastes beyond Qumran. Their paths cross when Yeshua rescues her from wild dogs and carries her to safety in his arms. An extraordinary friendship grows up between them, and when he leaves the desert she rides with him, his closest companion, hidden in a sling beneath his robe. Mari tells Yeshua's story from a cat's eye view-hours spent curled against his heart, comforted by the rise and fall of his breast, sometimes singed by the fires of his healing as he transforms the very elements of Earth. Her greathearted love opens her to an un-catlike awareness of the future, tormenting her with fear for Yeshua as well as dread of her own loneliness. In the end, all roads lead to Jerusalem, and Mari experiences depths of wonder unsuspected by those caught up in the tumult around her. Here's what readers are saying: "Imagine if the author of Watership Down had written The Shack " "For the first time, I finally understand what the point, the power, and the beauty of "he is risen" is about - hey, it only took 50 years and a cat to translate " "A delightful combination of simplicity and deep theological insight." "The words left the pages and entered my heart, soul and spirit. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful."