The Dust of 100 Dogs

Once Emer was a precocious six year old in Ireland, but after Cromwell took over Ireland, a series of unfortunate events leads her to becoming a bloodthirsty pirate out for treasure. Then she is cursed to live 100 lives as a dog. Now that she's back to being a human again, Emer is ready to find the treasure she buried long ago.

This was an interesting book. It's told from a couple of perspectives, mainly Emer/Saffron. Saffron is the reborn Emer. She has all the memories of Emer's life (lives, she remembers the dog lives too) and it's hard to tell if they are really the same person or if Emer just lives in Saffron. If you had memories from the day you were born of a life you know you lived, but you didn't specifically live it yourself, how would that work...?

Anyway, Saffron is born with Emer's knowledge and she knows that when she is old enough she is going to go and find the treasure Emer buried 300 years ago. There are a lot of flashbacks that show how Emer went from a simple Irish girl to a pirate and how she wound up being cursed. There are also sections on some of the dog lives that provide lessons on dogs. Some are funny, some are sad, and at least one made me angry, but I wish there had been a few more. The one thing about this book I didn't understand was the Frenchman. He is obsessed with Emer and I never could figure out why.

This was one of my favorites so far this year and will definitely be a re-read at some point. I don't rate because I'm afraid I would be extremely generous no matter what, but if I did this would be a 5/5 or 10/10 or whatever. 5 stars