Yesterday I learned that Max, George Clooney's pet pig, had died. Then I came across Debra Salonen's The Laws of Love in Harlequin's free Online Reads Library. One of the main characters is a pig, and as I liked the story and the coincidence, and because I'm not sure how long this story will stay in the Library, I thought I'd post about it.
It's a story of contrasts and similarities, of appearances and social disapproval. Our heroine, Gwyneth Jacobi, is a lawyer known for being a 'barracuda'. Arley McNamara is a rich philanthropist with a short attention span. Cuddles, the pig, is large and at risk. The neighbours object to Cuddles' continued presence in their neigbourhood. Arley's parents object to Gwyneth (she's Jewish). Cuddles knows exactly who she is and what she wants: Arley and Gwyneth need to do a bit more work on deciding what really matters to them.
And of course there's the pig McLasser in Laura Kinsale's Uncertain Magic. He plays an integral part in the plot.
ReplyDeleteI found a copy of an old Mills & Boon romance from 1992 and picked it up just because of the pig. It's Summer Storms by Emma Goldrick, and the pig is called Sam. He's
ReplyDeleteAs big as a large St Bernard dog but totally black. He looked to weigh in at eighty pounds. A fair portion of that weight was suspended in his belly. That droop, combined with his short legs, made it difficult for Sam to climb or run. And, to make him even more ridiculous, his tail was only a tiny curl of a thing. His feet were so tiny that it seemed impossible that they could hold up his body. A gentle, affectionate pet, one of the most intelligent of the land-based mammals, big enough to make most people cautious, and small enough to be a house-pet. His flat snout sniffled constantly, as if he had a permanent cold in his nose. (1992: 12)
The hero and heroine fight constantly, so this land-based mammal gives the impression that he's considerably more intelligent than they are: he certainly steals the show.