Minka and Curdy – Antonia White
Minka and Curdy – The enchanting story of a writer and her cats by Antonia White / 113-page hardback published by Virago Modern Classics (2023; original is from 1957) / ISBN 9780349018478
***
One of the most enchanting books about cats ever written, Minka and Curdy describes the adventures – and misadventures – of two very different kittens.
Victoria, a real tyrant of a cat, spent so many years training her owner to be the ideal hostess that Mrs Bell feels it would be disrespectful to replace that formidable creature. But her resolve is worn down, and she finally agrees to take a marmalade kitten – and is immediately offered a Siamese that she also simply cannot resist. This is the story of a writer seduced by the contrasting charms of two kittens: Curdy, lively and mischievous; and Minka, elegant, imperious, and disdainful of the ginger upstart.
Delightfully illustrated with line drawings, this is a witty and charming love letter to feline companionship from the author of Frost in May, and the perfect book for all cat lovers.
Antonia White (1899-1980) was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton before going to St Paul’s School for Girls and training for the stage at RADA. From 1924 until the Second World War she worked as a journalist. Among numerous volumes of short stories, fiction and autobiography, Antonia White published a celebrated quartet of novels linked by their heroine: Frost in May (1922), The Lost Traveller (1950), The Sugar House (1952) and Beyond the Glass (1954).
