Showing results for "The Others" in Animals

Victoria Adler's plunge into midlife proves to be quite the rollercoaster. As a successful psychotherapist, she expected stability, but life had other plans. Abandoned by her faithless husband for a fling and overwhelmed by her increasingly neurotic patients, Victoria finds solace in the company of Athos, her late father's intelligent sled dog.

In these selections, an animal plays an important role in the action or plot of the story. The animals in these stories are real or are stand-ins for humans: Sredni Vashtar by Saki (H. H. Munro) Kholstomer, The Story of a Horse by Leo Tolstoy A Dark-Brown Dog by Stephen Crane Kashtanka by Anton Chekhov The Cat That Walked By Himself by Rudyard Kipling The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe The Fly by Katherine Mansfield The Boar-Pig by Saki (H. H. Munro) The Tiger Guest by Pu Songlbying Jackals and Arabs by Franz Kafka

La La’s world stops being whole when her mother, who never wanted a child, abandons her twice. First, when La La falls through thin ice on a skating trip, and again when the accusations of “unfit mother” feel too close to true. Left alone with her father - a locksmith by trade and a thief in reality - La La is denied a regular life. She becomes her father’s accomplice, calming the watchdog while he strips families of their most precious belongings. When her father’s luck runs out and he is arrested for burglary, everything La La has painstakingly built unravels.

The Sanctuary is a refuge for strays and rescued dogs. Evie has joined a training program there, though she knows almost nothing about animals. Like the greyhound who won’t move, the Rottweiler with attitude problems, or the hound who might be a candidate for search-and-rescue, Evie has a troubled past. But as they all learn, no one should stay prisoner to a life she didn’t choose. Heartfelt and hilarious in turn, this is a deeply moving story of the countless ways in which humans and canines help each other find new lives, new selves, and new hope.