Title page

CAT ON A HOT TILED ROOF

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means, nor transmitted, nor translated into a machine language, without the written permission of the publishers.

The right of Anna Nicholas to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Condition of Sale

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher.

Summersdale Publishers Ltd

46 West Street
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 1RP
UK

www.summersdale.com

eISBN: 978-0-85765-384-0

A la memòria de Salvador Humbert, un mallorquí autèntic

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements
About the Author
Author's Note
Phantom Sheep
War and Peace
Raining Cats and Dogs
The Burrowers
Hidden Talents
The Perfect Pitch
Ruling the Roost
Learning the Ropes
Devilish Pursuits
Going the Whole Hog
Diva Moments
A Cat Called Zack
Catalan for Beginners
Running Around Manhattan
Cold Turkey
A Blessing in Disguise
The Crowning Glory
Farewell to a Friend
Nitty Gritty Matters
A Happy Fete

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It would be churlish of me not to thank a handful of bright and bushy-tailed individuals for their pearls of wisdom on this, my latest Mallorcan voyage. These include Sari (aka Catalina) Andreu, Margalida and Margarita de Llibreria Calabruix, Guillem Puig, Joan Bolart Xarrié of Trabalenguas, Pere and Margarita Serra of the Serra Newspaper Group and Roger Katz of Hatchards Bookshop. My inestimable gratitude goes to the people of the Sóller Valley for offering my family and me safe harbour in a warm and genuine community. Last but never least, my love and thanks to Alan and Oliver.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As a freelance journalist, Anna Nicholas has contributed to titles such as the Financial Times, The Independent, Tatler, the Daily Express and Evening Standard and for the last five years has contributed a weekly column to the Majorca Daily Bulletin. She is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and has been an international invigilator for Guinness World Records. Together with explorer, Colonel John Blashford-Snell, she has also organised an expedition to carry a grand piano to the remote Wai Wai tribe in South America, which was the subject of a BBC TV documentary.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

The local vernacular used in this book is in the Mallorcan dialect. Although Mallorcan is derived from Catalan and is believed to have been spoken for more than five or six centuries, it varies greatly when written. During the Franco era, Mallorcan was forbidden in Balearic schools and this has made it an oral language, reliant on Catalan when transcribed to print because no dictionary in Mallorcan exists. Today, Catalan is the main language used in Mallorcan schools with the Mallorcan dialect being spoken in the street and in the home. The vocabulary and spelling often varies greatly from village to village in Mallorca. I have taken advice from local language experts and so hope to have accurately transcribed the Mallorcan language to print. However, I apologise unreservedly to any fervent linguists who may care to differ!