Helen Brown

Born in New Zealand, Helen Brown was a multi-award winning columnist for newspapers and magazines. Her book, CLEO, about how a small black kitten helped her family heal after the death of her nine year-old son, Sam, became a NYT bestseller and is in more than 18 languages. A movie is in development. A children's version, CLEO AND ROB, was released in 2019. Helen loves writing about cats and their connections with humans, along with the funny and profound moments of everyday life. Her current feline, Jonah, bounced into the household while she was recovering from breast cancer in 2008. He became the subject of another book, JONAH (CATS AND DAUGHTERS in some parts of the world). Her novel, TUMBLEDOWN MANOR, was published in 2016. While staying in New York, Helen fostered an endearing rescue cat called Bono. Her Huffington Post blogs written in hope of finding Bono a forever home, were read by more than 22 million people. The book, BONO, appeared in 2018. A revised and extended collection of her early columns, DON'T LET ME PUT YOU OFF - How to Survive Suburbia, was released in 2019. Based in Melbourne, Australia, with husband Philip and Jonah, Helen enjoys morning walks, good coffee, knitting and sunshine. She adores her grown-up children (Rob, Lydia, Katharine and their partners) and her grand daughters, Annie and Stella. Having faced a few challenges in life, Helen has learnt to savour every moment, just like a cat.