Review: Welcome Home, Bernard Socks by Paul Magrs

Title: Welcome Home, Bernard Socks
Author: Paul Magrs
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Obverse Books
Publish Date: December 5, 2015

What's the Story?:

Synopsis: "Fester Cat returns us to his favourite place in the world, and casts a wry but compassionate eye over events in the house on Chestnut Avenue. In the months following his death Fester watches his hapless housemates Paul and Jeremy cope with living in a quiet, catless house, and gradually come to the decision that they must adopt a new friend. It is at the eccentric cat rescue / charity shop THARG where they first meet the robust and sproingy young Bernard Socks – the black and white cat who is destined to inherit Fester’s place in their home and garden down beside the railway tracks.


But things are never simple and straightforward in this family, and there follow months of excitement, adventures and downright palavers. Bernard Socks escapes and discovers a ghostly cat parade that happens every Midsummer Night’s Eve in Levenshulme. He helps the boys through the sudden death of a close friend. He gradually settles into his new life on Chestnut Avenue and everything seems fine, as Autumn draws near.

But then the men from the roofing company arrive and set up scaffolding all over the terrace and pretty soon all the ceilings are falling in and it seems that the three boys’ precious home is never going to be the same again. By the end of the year everything feels as if it’s in jeopardy – even the health of Bernard Socks himself. But what can Fester Cat do to help, watching all of these disastrous events unfold? How can that tough little, much-missed companion still make his voice heard by the humans that he loves?"

My Two Cents:

"Welcome Home, Bernard Socks" is the follow on story to Paul Magrs' "The Story of Fester Cat." In the first book, we meet Fester, a cat who has a passion for life and a thirst for adventure. As an animal lover, I really enjoyed that book so I was looking forward to reading this book. You don't necessarily need to read the first book but you will appreciate this second book more if you read the first.

This book picks up when Fester's owners go to pick out a new cat after Fester has died. The book is told from Fester's perspective from beyond. It was perhaps a bit of a gamble for the author to choose to tell the story from Fester's voice but it really pays off. It definitely gave the book an original spin. I also loved the idea of a beloved pet watching its keepers from beyond. Fester is not quite sure about the new cat that his owners pick out. The new cat is Bernard Socks, an endlessly happy and carefree guy.

The writing of the book was good. I loved the way that the author told the story of what Fester was up to as he watched his successor settle in to his new home. This is a heartwarming tale that will definitely appeal to my fellow animal lovers!