Meet Kathryn Hughes, Cheshire & Wain's Resident Cat Historian!

We are delighted to welcome Kathryn Hughes as Cheshire & Wain's resident historian. Kathryn will be writing a series of guest articles for us on cat culture and history as part of our commitment to bring you interesting and varied stories about cats and the people who love them. 

About

Kathryn Hughes is a British author, historian, and literary critic known for her engaging books on the Victorian period. Her new book, Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World, tells the story of how Great Britain fell in love with cats in the final decade of the Victorian period.  We meet cat burglars, talking cats, well-dressed cats and film star cats, not forgetting the people who loved them – everyone from Edward Lear, the nonsense poet, to Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, another Victoria, who set up her own cat breeding business in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Woven through these stories is the biography of Louis Wain, our namesake and the eccentric artist who devoted his life to producing pictures of anthropomorphic cats that are instantly recognisable. Catland has been described as ‘a delight by the New York Times’ and ‘Hugely Interesting’ by the Guardian.  

Kathryn's first exclusive article for Cheshire & Wain explores famous and lesser-known 'Cat Ladies' From The Victorian Parlour to the Presidential Election and we are busy researching more cat tales from the past and will have signed copies of Kathryn's bestselling book available soon! 

Catland has been flying off the shelves here at Cheshire & Wain and I was overjoyed when Kathryn agreed to write for us. There is so much to discover when it comes to the history of cats so if there are any specific topics or periods you would like Kathryn to explore next, let us know in the comments below!