The Labrador Pact: A Novel

Labrador Pact starts with the ending but you SO WANT the book to end differently. All along you are hoping something will change. Prince is the family dog doing his best to uphold the "Labrador Pact". You really want Prince to succeed in his mission.......which as you learn is not an easy task. I can usually figure out some "stuff" in books but this one really throws some zingers in there. Enjoyable book overall (but I don't know ANYONE who liked the ending). I almost wish authors would give readers multiple choices of how the book ends..... It's my first book by Matt Haig & it won't be my last.

I suppose the best description of this book is "magical realism." Where else do you find a perfectly normal environment and story along with dogs who not only talk to each other, but who plot and plan and manipulate the humans around them? Despite the animal characters, this is not a cute book for intended for children, but instead a very adult novel. It lacks the fuzzy-wuzzy curse that often infects books written from an animal's point of view. (This is a good thing!) Haig's writing is good, rather spare and elegant, which matches his dramatic subject matter: a family falling apart via self-neglect despite the heroic attempts of their pet labrador to make it all better. Haig's characters are well drawn and interesting, and you can track their progress up and down through the novel...which gives you a sense of anxiety or impending doom, largely because of how powerless the dog is from the reader's standpoint. When I first put this novel down, I found myself impressed by the book, and as I've mulled it over, I've decided it was a more gutsy and serious little literary and imaginative experiment than I at first thought. Read this, but be aware that it bears more resemblance to 'Trickie Woo parties with Blood and Buck' than it does to 'Lassie and Nana babysit the kids'....

Crises of faith are not new subjects for fiction. But what's surprising about Matt Haig's novel, THE LABRADOR PACT, is the protagonist undergoing that crisis: a dog. Not just any dog, but Prince, the eternally faithful companion of the Hunters, a family in crisis. Prince knows that it's his job to preserve the integrity of his Family at all costs, thereby helping to maintain the integrity of all human families everywhere. Prince's family, however, seems bound and determined to test the abilities of their Labrador. Adam and Kate, the father and mother of the Hunter clan, have been married for years but find themselves drawn by desire to new neighbors, figures from the past who suddenly turn up in their relatively comfortable lives and wreak havoc with the sanctity of marriage. Then there's Charlotte, a 13-year-old Goth girl whose desire for freedom clashes tragically with her father's fears for the safety of his little girl. And there's Hal, whose plans to ace his A levels and go on to university might be permanently derailed by his tendency to experiment with drugs. What's a lowly Labrador to do? In Prince's case, every new, perplexing turn of events in his human family raises more questions. Why do humans behave as they do? Is it really possible for a family dog to preserve the sanctity of the nuclear family? Prince and his fellow Labs certainly think so --- at least at first. Prince's mentor, a golden Lab named Henry, introduces Prince to the finer points of the so-called Labrador Pact --- a solemn vow that places Duty foremost and offers its adherents their Eternal Reward: "If we protect human Families on earth, we will be united with our own in the afterlife." But as Prince grows increasingly entwined with his humans' fates, he begins to question everything, not only his Family's peculiar behavior but also Henry's motives and his own unflinching belief in the Pact. Again, what's a lowly Labrador to do? Haig's previous adult novel published in the United States, THE DEAD FATHERS CLUB, was a clever, insightful retelling of the story of Hamlet from the point of view of a contemporary child. Astute readers will recognize Haig's affinity for Shakespeare in THE LABRADOR PACT as well, but they will also observe the author's nearly uncanny ability to use a naïve narrator to shed surprisingly sophisticated light on adult concerns and relationships. Fiction about animals can tread an uneasy line between fantasy and sentimentality. Matt Haig toes that line brilliantly, resulting in a novel about animals that not only sheds light on that most sacred of all relationships --- the one between man and dog --- but that also offers a keen, clear-eyed outsider's insight on human foibles, good and bad. Readers fortunate enough to inhabit Prince's point of view for a while will walk away from THE LABRADOR PACT humbled, thoughtful and deeply affected --- and with a whole new perspective on their own relationships with man's best friend. --- Reviewed by Nor

This is story told from the perspective of Prince, a Labrador living with a "typical" family of a husband, wife and two teenage children. While I love animals, I'm not usually a fan of animal stories. (I think the only story told from the perspective of an animal that I have ever really enjoyed was White Bone by Barbara Gowdy.) Most animal stories are cute at best, something best left to Disney's next cartoon feature film. I have visions of dancing horses and talking fish, which are all well and good in their on-screen genre, but rarely translate into good reading. Thankfully, this book not only successfully captures an adult perspective of animal life, it truly honours the intelligence that we often suspect and sometimes fear that our dogs have.Haig's presentation of the canine intelligence and communciation puts those of us from the human race to shame. Haig's dogs can read, understand and even speak to humans, but they choose not to. Labradors choose keep this secret to protect the Family they live with; other breeds are secretive so they can pursue a life of hedonism. The main character and Labrador, Prince, is no bystander in the world of humans. Rather, he is an active participant who believes he can shape and save his Family from the temptations and trials that the world holds for them. By virtue of the "Labrador Pact," Prince seeks to rescue a marriage on the rocks, a suicidal adolescent and a wayward teenager. But this isn't some "dog-saves-the-day" story. It is far deeper and more intelligent than that. Prince is seeking the truth in the canine world he lives in. When his mentor, Henry, can no longer give him all the answers, Prince risks stepping outside the confines of the Labrador Pact to find his own way in the world. In the most human-like manner, Prince resists desires, makes judgements of character, sees consequences for his actions and carefully weighs decisions.Truly, if you read this book you will never look at your dog the same way again.