There is a corner in Kyoto where people can go to get help. You need to have a referral from someone who knows or you will not be seen. You have to follow the directions exactly, the ones that take you to a specific corner, and even then you may not find it. You have to look very closely to see the small alley that leads to the building. And then you have to walk up to the fifth floor and open the heavy door to get to the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul.

For those who make it to the clinic, they’ve tried everything already. They have gone to doctors and psychiatrists, and they may write a prescription, but the drugs never help. The people who come to this clinic are desperate. They can’t sleep, or they can’t seem to move forward in their jobs, they are depressed, they are anxious, they are struggling with their relationships. They are at their wits’ end. And that’s what brings them to the Clinic for the Soul.

When they show up in the office, they are taken aback at how plain it is. A nurse will ask them to wait in the examination room for the doctor. She is cold and unsmiling. But the doctor comes in and they feel better. He asks about their symptoms, about their referral, and he genuinely listens. And at the end of the conversation, he says the same thing. “I’ll prescribe you a cat.”

He calls the nurse into the room, and she brings a cat carrier with the cat the doctor has prescribed for that patient. He tells the patient how long the prescription is for, and says to be sure to read all the directions. And before you can get your head around the fact that you’re new prescription is for an actual cat, and that the whole thing is not an elaborate practical joke, you’re walking out the door with a cat carrier and a bag of food and supplies for however long your prescription is for.

And then you have to go home and figure out how to take care of a cat, and see if the cat really can fix what ails you. (Spoiler: they can, but not in the ways you may think.)

We’ll Prescribe You a Cat is a charming novel about how cats add so much warmth and interest to our lives. Originally written in Japanese, it’s been translated into English (and so many more languages) to be shared with cat lovers all over the world. At turns heart-warming and heart-breaking, this collection of stories takes readers inside the lives of unhappy people and shows how a cat can change everything. Anyone who has ever lived with a cat knows that their curiosity, playfulness, sweetness, and mystery can irritate, entertain, and confound you, but at the end of the day you can’t help but love them.

I adored We’ll Prescribe You a Cat. When I was a kid, we had dogs. Cats seemed to like me, but I didn’t understand them. But now, I can’t imagine life without a cat. I love the idea of prescribing a cat for depression, for job issues, for ennui. But these cats, and the doctor prescribing them, seem to have more going on than just sending people home with a rescue cat. There is a mysterious, maybe even supernatural aspect to this book, that ties all these stories together and kept me curious like a kitten until the very end.

If you are a cat lover, you will find so much cat love in these pages. And if you know a cat lover, you know they will devour this book too, so you’ll want to keep this one in mind for any upcoming gift-giving opportunities. This is simply a celebration of the mystery of cats and how they transform us all with their love.

Egalleys for We’ll Prescribe You a Cat were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.