About the story
A cat story set in Galway, Ireland
Goober, The Cat That Wasn't Mine is a novel by Wagner Rosati Carvalho. A stray cat keeps appearing at a glass door in rainy Galway, and every week he wears a different collar. Whose cat is this?
The Galway setting
After a pandemic year back home in Brazil, Daniel returns to Ireland with a bass guitar and starts again in Galway. Between wet streets, buskers on Shop Street, evenings by the docks and lit windows in a row of terraced houses, a tabby with golden eyes decides to visit. The story is a love letter to Galway and to the West of Ireland, seen through the eyes of someone learning to call it home.
Who will love this book
Cat lovers
A golden-eyed tabby who belongs to everyone and no one, and a mystery told through his collars.
Families and younger readers
A warm, gentle story about kindness, friendship and letting an animal choose you.
Living abroad
Loneliness, belonging and the small connections that turn a new country into home.
Stories set in Ireland
Galway rain, lit windows, music on the streets and a neighbourhood with a secret.
Reader questions
Where does the story take place?
In Galway, on the west coast of Ireland. Rainy terraced streets, Shop Street with its buskers, the docks and a quiet neighbourhood where everybody seems to know the same cat.
Is Goober a real cat?
Yes. The story was inspired by the real Goober, a tabby who visited the author in Galway. You can follow him on Instagram at @cat_goober.
Who is the book for?
Cat lovers, readers who enjoy a gentle mystery, families and younger readers, and anyone who has moved abroad and had to find home again.
Is it an immigrant story?
Yes. Daniel, a designer from Brazil, returns to Ireland after a pandemic year back home and starts again in Galway. A cat with a different collar every week slowly changes his life.
Where can I buy the book?
Goober, The Cat That Wasn't Mine is available on Amazon in paperback.