About the Unconditional: Stories of Women And The Animals They Love Graphic Novel

An intimate and moving collection of stories about women and their life-changing relationships with animals, told in vivid graphic novel style.

The animals that popular illustrator and writer Cat Willett has shared her life with have taught her a great deal about growth, transition, pain, and loss, inspiring her to interview other women about their experiences. Through rich, full-color illustrations, she shares intimate interviews with seventeen different women and their pets, in addition to her own stories. A foreword by Susan Korn, founder of Susan Alexandra, describes her connection with her Chihuahua mix, Pigeon.

Willett’s honest, pure stories reveal how meaningful those bonds can be. Terra and her parrot, Pooja, grieved together when Terra’s mother passed away from pancreatic cancer. Tuck and Liza, two cats who were adopted in Ukraine, helped BriAnne wait for her journalist husband as he worked from a war zone. Hyesu adopted her dog, Dutch, from a shelter, and he taught her about the importance of self-care. The horse Scooby Doo guided singer-songwriter Natasha Khan, of the band Bat for Lashes, through a complicated adolescence. These are just a few of the stories that explore the genuine and supportive relationships we can have with our animal companions.

Cat Willett is an illustrator and author whose work celebrates women and aims to uplift and inspire others through comics and books. She is the author of The Queen of Wands: The Story of Pamela Colman Smith: The Artist Behind the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck and Women of Tarot, An Illustrated History of Divinators, Cards Readers and Mystics. Her client list includes the New York Times, Spotify, Daily Harvest, Doc Martens, Adobe, and the Brooklyn Public Library. Cat lives in Brooklyn with her partner, their two boys, and their dog Bowie.