FICTION
“A couple moves into the titular Butter House, and soon find themselves mired in the project of cat care. Sarah Gerard writes beautifully and precisely about the visceral, secretive feline landscape, and the possibilities that emerge when this world intersects with the human realm—challenging the couple at the center of The Butter House to renegotiate their relationship to care and what it means to feel at home.”
—Laura van den Berg, author of The Third Hotel and I Hold a Wolf by the Ears
“The Butter House is like a lithe and seductive feline, sinking its uncut claws into you. Sarah Gerard’s prose is quiet and contemplative and then chaotic in bursts, also not unlike a cat. The Butter House incisively considers the simultaneous care and cruelty of pet ownership, and Gerard is masterful in writing into all the nooks and crannies of a relationship. It’s the tale cat people deserve.”
—Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya, author of Helen House
“Meditative, wise, and worth revisiting, The Butter House is a novella about finding meaning in one’s connections.”
—Foreword Reviews
“With precise and lush details, Gerard captures a sense of life’s fragility amid new possibilities.”
—Publishers Weekly
Vividly descriptive and introspective to a beautiful degree, Gerard’s sparse but warm writing style makes this book feel like a restorative glass of iced tea on a bright and warm summer’s day. Full of delicately ponderous musings on cohabitation and the responsibility of care, this short story manages to plumb the depths of the narrator’s innermost thoughts in such a purposeful way that it makes you feel like you’re reading revelations on the unavoidable contradictions of the human experience.
—Seattle Book Review
Sarah Gerard’s The Butter House is a dreamy and contemplative novella that explores the evolution of the concept of home and the intersection between the lives of humans and animals… a deceptively slight book that addresses surprisingly weighty matters.
—Independent Book Review