Facebook Linkedin

Drapkin Books

The Cat Tender​

Maggie Mullen is a hefty, fiercely independent 27-year-old woman who has built a quiet, simple life for herself that revolves around her cat-tending business, the time she spends each evening in her oversized claw-foot bathtub with her own faithful feline Lucy nearby, and her enduring love for Frank Sinatra. But her life becomes more complicated when she’s asked to be maid of honor at her younger sister’s wedding—a prospect that she dreads. Maggie’s strong opinions and flights of fancy help her get through her ordeal.

the cat tender
Order Now

Press and Reviews of The Cat Tender

“Meet Maggie Mullen, an independent woman nearing her thirties who, in The Cat Tender, has built a comfortable career (as a catsitter) and patterns (nightly soaks in her clawfoot tub with kitty Lucy at hand and Frank Sinatra wafting music into the air). . . .The Cat Tender is especially recommended for libraries seeking lively, cat-infused examinations of independence and women’s lives, and for book clubs looking for discussion material about couples, connections, and careers, seen through the eyes of a maid of honor who considers weddings a ‘pain in the ass.’”
Diane DonovanMidwest Book Review
“A young woman reflects on her job as a cat-sitter, her sister’s upcoming wedding, and her own singleton status in this novel. . . . Maggie Mullen, 27, spends a lot of time in other people’s houses, but not to socialize. As a cat-sitter, she looks after their pets, does simple chores. And watches TV, and although she doesn’t want children, she loves reality shows such as A Baby Story or I Didn’t Know I was pregnant. . . . Drapkin pursues an intriguing idea in presenting a young heroine who enjoys her singlehood and is comfortable taking care of herself sexually.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Ernest Hemingway famously advised aspiring writers to “write one true sentence.” And that’s exactly what Martin Drapkin does, again and again, in The Cat Tender, his third quirkily moving and mesmerizing book. From Maggie Mullen’s opening declaration (‘I’ve been dreading this day’) to her closing declaration á la her beloved Frank Sinatra (‘here’s one for my baby . . . and one more for for the road’), Drapkin richly evokes his first-person narrator’s outwardly lonely and limited life as she ‘tends’ her and her clients’ cats and prepares mentally to participate, as a reluctant bridesmaid, in her sister Mindy’s wedding. “All three of Drapkin’s books to date—Now and at the Hour, Ten Nobodies (and their somebodies), and now The Cat Tender—specialize in intimate and sympathetic portrayals of the limited, the compromised, the lonely, the down and out, the marginal, the ordinary—that is, all of us to some extent. . . . In The Cat Tender, Martin Drapkin has given us a truly unforgettable character and an exhilaratingly unforgettable book.”
Ronald WallaceFormer Director of Creative Writing Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“About two chapters into The Cat Tender, I began to wonder: Where have I seen this style before? Then it hit me: Maggie Mullen is Holden Caulfield. In a gossipy tone, she wonders about the clients she cat-sits for: ‘They’d tell me their lame story, which I don’t imagine I’d find all that fascinating. . . . Then we’d get to their tedious wedding story. Yawn!’ Or, complaining about her sister’s upcoming wedding: ‘So the stupid dress is going to set me back $240 . . . and I don’t know what the hell else!’ . . . This is a fun and thoughtful book.”
John ScepanskiAmazon Review
“If you have ever tried to write down what your random thoughts are as you go about your day, you’ll know that it is virtually impossible—you change what you’re thinking unconsciously to being aware of your thoughts and therefore censor your thoughts and therefore writing. Fortunately, Marty Drapkin has managed to channel the thoughts of our cat-loving protagonist in this introspective novel, with a character who is sort of a cross between Holden Caulfield and Bridget Jones, although neither of them have the cat-loving qualities that endear me to Maggie.”
University of Wisconsin Odyssey Project Reviewer
“The author absolutely nails all the particulars of weddings in America, or at least the Midwest. All the elements he includes are things I have experienced or observed in the many weddings I have attended in my lifetime. It is funny to see those traditions described by Maggie with such derision. . . . I enjoyed getting to know Maggie despite her misanthropy and pessimism. I feel a lot of compassion for her. The author has created a character who seems real to me and I would like to hang out with her and try to make her laugh.”
Erin BoschAmazon Review
“My favorite thing about this book is Maggie’s personality She is funny, critical, sensitive, kind, offbeat and has interesting perspectives on life . . . What’s also awesome is that this is a man writing this book! Not every man can write through the eyes of a woman, let alone nail PMS cravings on the head!”
KathrynAmazon Review