I was told of an older woman who was asked by her granddaughter, 'Granny, when was the happiest time of your life?'
'I don't know,' she replied, 'I may not have had it yet.'

A COSMO HOTTEST BOOK FOR SUMMER 2022
AN INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR JULY 2022
A WHAT TO READ PICK 2022 FOR NEW STATESMEN
'Sensual, spiky, tender and utterly original' Pandora Sykes

The stories found in this collection explore the sensual worlds of thirteen older women, reframing their intellectual and emotional lives in intimate vignettes that will shock and comfort in equal measure.

Susan finds she is attracted to her beautiful young carer, Miffy, and embarks on an intense emotional relationship with her. Nell discovers a cut on her leg, which leads her on to reflections on her past and a young girl in distress she encountered on her honeymoon. Linda perversely seeks out her former lover, Malik, on the banks of the Victoria Falls, despite having left him years ago to return to her settled marriage to Bill. Daisy, who, by a curious stroke of fate, finds herself at the funeral of her former husband, Tim, relives their early life together, his betrayal of her and the anguish of that time. The narrator of 'Lockdown Fantasm' enjoys the cool fingers of her government-authorised Fantasm on week one hundred and ninety-three of the long lockdown. In 'Schopenhauer and I', Martha, mourning her little dog whom she believes has been killed by the care home staff, works out how to manage a robot designed to monitor her behaviour, and to get her revenge. The narrator of 'Cat Brushing' communes with her elegant, soft Siamese cat, reflecting on the sexual pleasures of her past.

In spiky, elegant prose, Jane Campbell ignites the voices of women who are fighting to live on their own terms, energised by their desires and passions, freedoms, integrity and sense of self. Cat Brushing confronts the tragic misconceptions of aging and presents a vivid and transgressive peek into older women's lives.

"It's not every day . . . that you encounter a debut as fresh, assured and fun as Jane Campbell's . . . Though her stories are frequently explicit enough to bring colour to your cheeks, Campbell maintains a cool, commanding tone that enhances the effect of her limpid prose . . . The stories are varied in approach without being showy about it, and consistently draw novel insight from a few major themes: aging, sexuality, memory, loneliness. Her work merits comparison with that of Edna O'Brien or Muriel Spark, while an uncanny streak running through several of the pieces . . . might bring Daphne du Maurier to mind." - New York Times

"Sensual, spiky, tender and utterly original short stories about the desire of women in their seventies and older." - Pandora Sykes

"Cat Brushing offers a much-needed fresh perspective on the diverse realities of ageing." - Women's Own

"An illuminating, funny and tender collection that affirms wisdom and experience as the basis for great storytelling" - Sunday Business Post

"Sensuous, strange and utterly original." - Sunday Independent Ireland (Book of the Year)