You find an angry, frightened cat on a mound of rubbish, bleeding from one paw, and spend the whole first chapter earning his trust. He is cleverer than a cat has any business being. What he turns into is the rest of the story: a man learning to shuck peas and mash potatoes, insisting he only wants the recipe so he can manage once he is on his own. Whether he ever is on his own is the part that hurts.