A Cat Out of Egypt "On a cold winter's night when the heavens almost seemed to reach down and touch the Earth, a child was born in a stable . . . and many miles away, as her last kitten struggled into the world, the Great Cat Who Is Bast saw the star and wondered." C.L. Francisco's new novel, A Cat Out of Egypt, is a magical tale of Jesus' "lost" years in Egypt. The feline narrator, Miw, is an Egyptian cat from the great temple at Bubastis, born under the Christ Child's star. After corrupt priests plot her death, Miw escapes with Tikos, priestess of Bast, to a Jewish village, where Miw's battle against a deadly scorpion wins the gratitude of Yeshua's family. But when Tikos faces down an Egyptian mob, she betrays their location. She and Miw flee south, and Yeshua's family, warned in a dream to leave Egypt, go with them. Pursuit escalates until both Egyptians and Romans are spreading nets to catch Miw, and a cadre of dark priests who stalked Yeshua at his birth stumble onto his trail while tracking Miw. A powerful Nabataean caravan leader joins Miw in defending Yeshua and his family against forces determined to destroy the child before he can reach Israel. The peril overshadowing his friends drives Yeshua deep within himself to realize many of his gifts at an early age, quickening self-awareness far beyond his years. A Cat Out of Egypt is the second in the series, Yeshua's Cats, the prequel to The Gospel According to Yeshua's Cat, a story of Jesus of Nazareth told by a cat he carries hidden in his robes. Yeshua's Cat has received consistently enthusiastic reviews since its publication in November, 2013, including 41/2-star reviews from both Indie Reader and Self Publishing Review. Like Yeshua's Cat, A Cat Out of Egypt combines theological subtlety, historical accuracy, and the perceptive observations of a companion cat. A Cat Out of Egypt is intended for adults and young readers over twelve. Perhaps Christians and cat-lovers are its most obvious target audience, but if Yeshua's Cat's readership is any indication, its appeal will be even broader.
About the Author: C. L. Francisco has always chosen fiction for her downtime reading: "Fiction sneaks up on me, gets under my guard, and touches my heart in a way that non-fiction can't," she says. "It opens up new possibilities and sets me dreaming. For me, life-changing books have always been fiction. That's probably why I chose to write a book like Yeshua's Cat." Retired college professor C. L. Francisco's faith reemerged several years ago after a time of radical doubt. Her conservative Christian upbringing, liberal college education, year's stay at L'Abri, early career years in art therapy, and PhD in world religions had all contributed to her confusion. But as a woman whose life had always been grounded in faith, she struggled to find her way again. Oddly enough, the voice of non-human nature spoke more clearly than any other-except for C. S. Lewis' fiction, which she never abandoned. The whispers were faint at first, and often resulted in dead ends, but when they finally spoke clear, she found herself in the presence of the Christ who lives beyond all walls. The Gospel According to Yeshua's Cat emerged from Francisco's desire to offer fellow strugglers a fresh perspective on Jesus of Nazareth. The book's feline narrator speaks with the wise voice of a young cat whose death after a devastating wildfire provided Francisco with the impetus to begin the book. Francisco has gone on to write A Cat Out of Egypt, the 2nd volume in the Yeshua's Cats series, and a stand-alone prequel to Yeshua's Cat, which introduces her original feline character's many-times great-grandmother Miw, beloved of the child Yeshua. A Cat Out of Egypt is available in Kindle and paperback formats at Amazon.com. She is currently working on a third novel in the series, The Cats of Rekem.