Don't Look in the Freezer: The Very Strange Life of a Veterinarian's Wife by Patti Eddington

The opening pages of this book mention both All Creatures Great & Small, which I’ve never read or watched, and then The Wonder Years, which I watched avidly on Sunday evenings. The latter was used to describe the author’s husband's upbringing, and it sets the tone perfectly for what follows: a warm, nostalgic memoir rooted in small-town life and a deep love of animals.

Patti Eddington's own childhood was rural, following her adoption, though, interestingly, no mention is made of her birth parents. (Perhaps that was covered in the first book).

Don't Look in the Freezer beautifully takes us through her idyllic childhood and her meeting her future husband, who knew from an early age that he wanted to be a vet. He also knew he preferred to set up his own practice, and after working at three terrible jobs, he did. Or should I say they did, as this is the story of a true partnership, based on their devotion to animals.

The author also chronicles some tough experiences in jobs, but this is in the US, where they don’t have the same protections for employees as we do in the EU (as it was). It certainly made me appreciate our laws, which they didn't have in the US - especially in the 1980s.

Something else that struck me as distinctly American was the prevalence of strays, though perhaps that was also a feature of 1980s Britain that we've since left behind. Either way, Patti, her husband, and eventually their daughter, Molly, welcomed many strays into their lives, particularly cats.

I loved that they named their cats after those they resembled, so I particularly enjoyed one of their clinic cats named after Rupert Everett. There are so many hilarious stories about their own pets - like the one their daughter adopted on a trial basis for 21 years.

And I laughed out loud at the description of an outfit - a fedora, tights with socks over them, leather ankle booties, and a white blouse with a man's tie over a long skirt - worn in 1985 and blamed on The Breakfast Club, one of my favourite films, and I actually love the sound of that outfit even today!

This book is quite slim, apparently many years in the making, and is so beautifully written.

There are, inevitably, many goodbyes to beloved pets, handled with great tenderness.

We get to know all the real-life characters - animals and humans - and there are many who must surely be thrilled to be featured in such a warm memoir.

It's an incredibly easy read; I reached the end quickly and found myself immediately ready to start again. Patti Eddington has a real gift for bringing characters vividly to life, and I sincerely hope she turns her hand to fiction next.

I love this book. Many thanks to the wonderful people at She Writes Press, who sent me an advance copy; had they not, I would have gone straight to the bookshop for it anyway.

Order from your local indie book shop or Waterstones.