An intimate and moving collection of stories about women and their life-changing relationships with animals, told in vivid graphic novel style.
In Unconditional, popular illustrator and writer Cat Willett explores the deep, often transcendent relationships between women and their animal companions. The animals she has shared her life with have taught her a great deal about growth, transition, pain, and loss, inspiring her to interview other women about their experiences with the animals in their lives. Their honest, pure stories demonstrate just how meaningful those bonds can be.
Animals featured include cats, dogs, horses, a rooster, a parrot, bees, bats, a guinea pig, rabbits, and service animals, while the featured women include everyday people as well as better-known figures. Using rich, full-color illustrations, Willett shares illuminating stories of seventeen different women and their pets, in addition to her own personal stories, including:
Terra and her parrot, Pooja, grieved together when Terra's mother passed away from pancreatic cancer.
Scooby Doo, a wise and loving horse, guided singer-songwriter Natasha Khan, of the band Bat for Lashes, through a complicated adolescence.
Tuck and Liza, two cats adopted in Ukraine and Poland, helped BriAnne Wills, author of Girls and Their Cats, cope with the challenge of waiting for her journalist husband to return from an assignment in a war zone.
Hyesu adopted her dog, Dutch, from a shelter and found calm and support for her anxiety.
Finn, Pam's rabbit, helped her redefine the meaning of family while providing companionship and support living in a big city far from home.
Artist Emilie Gossiaux's seeing-eye dog, London, loyally served Emilie, and, in turn, Emilie devoted her art career to London.
Francine Tint navigated a male-dominated art world while staying devoted to her craft as a painter well into her 80s, alongside her devoted cat, Remy.
- ILLUSTRATED CULTURAL HISTORY: Within each profile, captivating facts about the animals' origins, domestication, and habits add a layer of historical context to the personal tales.
- WOMEN AND PETS: This collection shines a loving spotlight on the mutual nature of the relationships between women and a diverse list of companion animals—including a parrot, a rooster, a bat, bees, a guinea pig, rabbits, horses, dogs, and cats—and their unique and touching life experiences together. A foreword by Susan Korn, founder of the fashion brand Susan Alexandra, describes her connection with her Chihuahua mix, Pigeon.
- TALENTED AUTHOR-ILLUSTRATOR: Merging Cat Willett's empathetic voice and signature lush illustrations that have captivated readers of the New York Times and the Washington Post, Unconditional is sure to resonate with anyone who has ever felt transformed by a relationship with their companion animal.
- PERFECT FOR: Pet owners and animal lovers; fans of graphic memoirs; readers with an interest in women's stories, animal welfare, spirituality, and the human-animal bond; and gift-giving in celebration of pet adoption, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day, birthday, or any special occasion.