People who like dogs like people who like dogs

Nick Duerden had always been more of a cat person, so getting a dog in his forties comes as something of a shock. Missy, a Border Terrier, is meant to be not just a family pet, but primarily a source of therapeutic support – to help Nick reintegrate into social life after a long illness.

Unexpectedly, it works. In middle age, you don't usually get many opportunities to connect with promising young actors or widowed octogenarians, a talkative Russian dissident, a stoned martial arts enthusiast, or a self-proclaimed animal mystic. But the daily walk with Missy in the park makes all of this possible. And what's more, it saves more than one marriage.

People Who Like Dogs Like People Who Like Dogs is a book about relationships and friendship, love and loss, the whims of middle age, and the deep comfort that the bond between a person and an animal, as well as between people themselves, can bring. It's about finding your own place in the world after losing yourself, and about how, even when dark clouds are gathering on the horizon, another adventure is waiting just beyond. You just need to be brave enough to meet it head-on.