The Long Wait

Title	The Long Wait
Publication Type	Book
Year of Publication	1997
Authors	Wilson, Budge, and Eugenie Fernandes
Publisher	Stoddart Kids
City	Toronto
ISBN Number	0773730214
Descriptors	Cats; Families; Nova Scotia; Picture Book
Abstract	The Long Wait is the story of Deirdre, the Wilsons' black cat. Each summer, the Wilsons' travel with Deirdre from Ontario to Nova Scotia. Though Deirdre is generally an amiable cat--she loves getting her belly rubbed and purrs as loud as a rattle--she must travel in a cat cage, which she hates. On a trip back to Ontario one September alone with Mr. Wilson, she howls so much Mr. Wilson pulls the car over to check if she is okay. In doing so, Deirdre escapes and Mr. Wilson has to leave her, somewhere lost in the woods off the highway in New Brunswick. However, the local New Brunswickers search for her for weeks, while the Wilsons, back in Ontario, worry if she'll ever be found. This picture book is illustrated with colourful pastel-toned paintings throughout and is written in a combination of third and first person (when Budge Wilson admits she is the Mrs. Wilson in the story).
Jurisdiction	Nova Scotia; New Brunswick
Age Range	6-9

Author Profile:

Budge Wilson

Quotation:

"Every summer, Deirdre traveled from Ontario to Nova Scotia and back again with the Wilsons. Sometimes she went by plane. Other times she rode by car in a big cat cage. Deirdre hated the car and she hated the cage. Whenever she was put inside it, she would tremble all over, like a small, black earthquake. Then she would howl for almost the whole trip. Deirdre was a very well traveled cat.
Then one year, a terrible thing happened" (n.p.).

Reviews, Awards and Further Information

Themes:

Companion Animals; Families; Loss and Recovery

Analysis:

Loss and Recovery: Though intentional or not, the loss and eventual recovery of the Wilsons' cat, Deirdre, alludes to similar reunions: the Prodigal Son of the Bible, Jesus's ressurection and even Dante's reunion with loved ones and saints in the final part (Paradisio) of Dante's Divine Comedy. A seemingly simple tale--a beloved family pet is lost in the New Brunswick woods at the end of a summer vacation and her eventual recovery and return to her family as a somewhat changed, more regal cat--suggests a death and resurrection. A theme emerges: nothing is ever truly lost. Wilson admits, at the end of the story, that she is the Mrs. Wilson in the tale, and Deirdre is actually her cat. Though it's been several years since the book was published, one gathers with the publication of The Long Wait that Deirdre lives on in art (literature) and thus fulfils Wilson's desire to keep Deirdre alive, long after she has shuffled off her mortal coil.

- Nicole Dixon, BA, BEd, MA, MLIS

Reviews: Benson, Jo-Anne Mary. "Review of the Long Wait." Quill and Quire (March 1997).

Gibson-Bray, S. "The Return of the Prodigal Cat in Budge Wilson's The Long Wait." Canadian Children’s Literature 93 (1999): 54-55.

Award: Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice Award (1997-1998).

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The Long Wait