Lara The Runaway Cat: One cat’s journey to discover home is where the heart is

Written by Dion Leonard and Sophie Pembroke

Narrated by Candida Gubbins

Lara the Runaway Cat tells the story of Gobi, the loveable pup who followed Dion Leonard across a gruelling 155-mile trek across the Gobi Desert, and her mischievous cat sister, Lara, who runs away from her family, seeking a courageous adventure and different life.

Lara doesn’t realise how good she has it in her home in Edinburgh with her owners, Dion and Lucja, and of course her sister, Gobi. If she’s being honest, she’s jealous of Gobi’s fame and the international attention she has received ever since Dion found her. Okay, Gobi may have survived an ultra-marathon across the Gobi Desert, but it’s not as if Lara doesn’t earn her fresh prawns! She dreams about the day when she can go outdoors and see the world, discover new friends and be free to make her own name.

But Lara’s wishful thinking gets the better of her as she takes a leap into the unknown and is forced to decide between her loyalties to her family and need to experience an adventure to rival Gobi’s. Join Lara in her eventful travels from Edinburgh to France, Beijing to Australia, where she is faced with challenges that will change her life forever.

Following on from the astounding real-life story of Dion Leonard, this fictionalised tale is a must-read for animal lovers everywhere.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9780008316297

Dion Leonard

Dion Leonard is an Australian who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has competed in some of the world’s toughest ultra marathons across inhospitable landscapes including running across the brutal Moroccan Sahara desert twice in the 250km Marathon Des Sables and twice across South Africa's Kalahari Desert. Dion's latest race across the Gobi Desert in China turned out to be extraordinary. He fell in love with a stray dog that followed him during the week, changing both of their lives forever.