I stumbled upon this wonderful book when I was up in the stacks looking for something entirely different. The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar takes place in Algeria during the 1930's. It's a funny story about a rabbi, his beautiful daughter, and their loyal cat. Since the book is kind of hard to describe, I'll leave it to the pros. NPR's Laurel Maury says it best:
Sfar has a kind of Isaac Bashevis Singer-like love of rambling, subtle yarns with universal appeal. The artist's wavering line beautifully renders his characters' sympathetic imperfections, but the real magic is in the gentle wisdom of his words. It's a rare book that makes talk of art, faith and humanity as exciting as a rollicking thriller.
