Waiting for Gertrude: A Graveyard Gothic

Debbie Fyfe is the reference/Internet resources librarian in the
Information Services Division of the Edmonton Public Library.

Bill Richardson, award-winning author of the Bachelor Brothers’ Bed
and Breakfast series of bestsellers and host of CBC Radio’s
“Richardson’s Roundup,” has written another delightfully funny
tale, this time set in Paris. If you are a fan of Richardson’s saucy,
ribald wit, you will not be disappointed.

Waiting for Gertrude is a bawdy fantasy set in Paris’s Pиre-Lachaise
cemetery (the actual final resting place of many famous writers and
artisans). The cemetery is home to a colony of feral cats inhabited by
souls of the long-departed greats who are buried there. The story’s
narrator is Alice B. Toklas, the longtime companion of Gertrude Stein.
Alice, already reborn in feline form, has been patiently waiting for
Gertrude Stein to reincarnate herself. While Alice waits we hear stories
about the other residents of Pиre-Lachaise. Oscar Wilde is in love with
Jim Morrison, a large tom cat who leaves a string of lovers—and
kittens—in his wake. Isadora Duncan, once a famous dancer, is now
Modigliani’s mistress. Chopin also lives there; once an accomplished
composer, he now serves the residents of Pиre-Lachaise as Postmaster.
And Colette, a famous French writer, helps the pregnant felines of the
colony by providing yoga instruction.

When Alice grows weary of waiting for Gertrude, she takes matters into
her own paws and asks the cemetery’s sorceress to cast a spell on the
residents that will speed up the arrival of a new batch of kittens, one
of which might be Gertrude.

Waiting for Gertrude is a delight to read and travelers who have
visited Pиre-Lachaise will undoubtedly want to return and have another
look at the cats. The well-written novel includes fantastical verse,
wickedly imaginative prose, and wonderful illustrations by Bill Pechet.