Northampton author writes about life in lockdown through eyes of 'naughty but nice' rescue cat

A Northamptonshire author has published a memoir on the struggles of shielding in 2020 - through the eyes of her mischievous rescue cat.

Writer Sarah Veness has written the humorous look at lockdown from the point of view of Phoebe Furnackerpan - a ‘naughty but nice rescue cat’.

Shielding seemed a long dark tunnel ahead of them both at the time, but Phoebe’s insight and frivolity as well as her compassion and sense of humour turned what could have been a potential nightmare into a mostly enjoyable event.

"Phoebe’s Feline Lowdown on Lockdown" is a memoir of these troubled days created from a daily diary shared on Facebook to lift the spirits and had hundreds of followers awaiting their daily dose of Phoebe.Her postings helped many who were alone, to feel part of an ongoing story beyond their living rooms.

Now, the diary has been collected together and made into a full account of the lockdown.

A five star review of the "Phoebe’s Lowdown on Lockdown" from Amazon reads: "This is a gentle and humorous account of life through a Spring and Summer, the like of which we had never known before. It is conveyed with affection and understanding by Sarah through the voice of the delightful, though not always well-behaved, pet cat Phoebe.

"Sarah’s sense of humour and positive outlook shine throughout. It was a joy to read each daily account as it appeared and I am delighted that they are now available in book form to entertain and uplift a wider audience through days that may be difficult still for many."

Sarah is a stroke survivor living in Upton at Foxfields supported living complex. She is a writer who is motivated by her own life events to encourage and inform people about dementia, stroke and memory issues. As someone who has cared for a friend with Early Onset Alzheimer’s and also lives with memory loss herself, she can express the viewpoint of carers and those in a similar position to her own.

This is Sarah’s second book the first being ‘The Memory Box’, a collection of short stories.

The Memory Box is a book written especially for those who are carers or living with memory loss. The simple narratives encourage activities which can reawaken past memories, bringing the welcome relief of calmness and peace, into a sometimes, confusing world.

The opening story, The Inner Voice, won the National Memory Day 2017 Short Story Competition in the Primary Carer’s Voice category, sponsored by The Alzheimer’s Society. Sarah has also been short-listed in the Living With Dementia magazine 2017 and 2019 Poetry Competitions and the Bedford International Writing Competition.