About 10 years ago, I read a novel about a group of travelers who were on a quest. It started with a harem girl and her attendant eunuch. Along the way , they pick up other travelers , who also join in on the quest. In the meantime, there is a lady who notices that the plant life around her house is both growing and acting strangely, and trying to communicate with her. It was one of those books that are slow to get interested in, and I just kind of read it a bit at a time, at least until I got about half-way through the book. One morning, all of the folks that were on the quest turned up in the other lady's back yard--------- and they were actually all ANIMALS ! ! The harem girl was a monkey, the eunuch was an altered tom cat, and the flighty person named Blanche was actually a cockatoo. At that point, I stopped reading the book, went back and started over at the beginning, looking for any little clues that the travelers were actually animals. There were a few clues; but nothing you would really notice unless you were looking for it. Anyway, I finished the book, it was an excellent story, and got left when we moved from Idaho. I have tried to find it for the last 10 years (or so); but for the life of me, I can not remember what the name of the book was, and searches have not turned up anything even close. I have NO idea who the author was, or if they wrote any other books. I know it is a long shot; but we do have other avid readers on the forum, so maybe someone else has read this book. It is strange enough that anyone who does read it would definitely remember reading it .
I haven't read it but it does sound really interesting - I like books like that, that are so different from the norm. I like a book that has you guessing and makes you think and wonder. So many books today are so predictable. You can almost guess what's going to happen, what the characters are going to say next, etc. It's like "been there, read that". If someone figures out the name and author, please post and let us know.
Think you may have let the cat out oft he bag on that book's plot twist now lol! Bit like watching Sixth Sense the first time - you just have to watch it again to see that no one other than the boy interacted with him - brilliant twist.
Yes, Richard, I knew that I was probably spoiling the book for anyone who had not read it before; but I tried to write up a good description of the book without spoiling the storyline, and there just didn't seem to be any good way to do it. Just to say it was a strange group of people going on a quest doesn't seem to be enough of s description that someone might be sure what book I was talking about. Plus, anyone who knew what the name of the book was, would have also read the book already and would know what it turned out to be. So, to atone, here is another great suggestion, without spoiling the plot. If you like the sci-fi kind of stories, and haven't read it before; one book that i really enjoyed is called "Emergence" by David Palmer. It is the story of Candy, a girl who survives a nuclear holocaust, and wanders across America with her blue macaw, looking for other survivors. This is a light-hearted little story, but one of my all-time favorites since I read it. I also left that one in Idaho when I moved; but at least I know the name of the book and author of this one.