Mousetrapped – Catherine Ryan Howard

Mousetrapped

A Year and A Bit in Orlando, Florida

Catherine Ryan Howard

£9.62/ £2.21 Kindle

Self-published

Mousetrapped was a completely unexpected discovery – and goes a long way to show why ereaders and ebooks are, well, awesome (more on that in another post of the main blog soon). There I was, browsing the ebookstore for Bill Brysons to fill up my New Favourite Toy (the Kindle) when up came a recommendation: Mousetrapped.

Well, anything Disney-orientated immediately gets my attention. I’ve had an obsession with all things Mickey since I saw The Little Mermaid aged three. This has only grown (I know, I know) in adulthood after spending a summer working for The Mouse three summers ago. Since returning to Cold, Grey England, I’ve tried to find ways to return to Florida on limited funding. So when I read that Mousetrapped was written by someone who had also worked at Walt Disney World I just couldn’t resist pressing that ‘buy’ button; not only could they take me back to Orlando, but it would do so for the grand total of £2.14.

Catherine is your average wannabe virologist/astronaut. When life doesn’t quite turn out as planned, she decides to move to Orlando to work for the ‘Duck & Tuna’ (not actually the hotel’s real name), a hotel in the Walt Disney World resort. Obviously if you work in The Happiest Place on Earth then the magic will automatically rub off on you (and will make you skinny and tanned). But Catherine’s illusions are shattered by a city where walking to work gets you sympathetic looks, hair is impossible to straighten and ‘pixie dust is hard to find’. As Catherine finds her feet, she tells a tale of giant mice, religious theme-parks, space shuttle launches and produces allegedly the only published memoir from the perspective of a Walt Disney World employee to date (suprising considering the popularity of the international programmes, and internal college ones. I’d hazard a guess at some legal issues (or fear) surrounding any potential negative-sounding-Disney-ness, but that could also be the Publishing Law exam I took on Thursday getting to me).

Talking of Publishing Law, if I fail that exam I plan to blame it all on Mousetrapped. This book is engaging and addictive. It reminded me a little bit of the voices of some of Marian Keyes’ best characters (ie. the Walsh family) – and not just because of the Irish connection. This lively and witty style means that, even when more emotive events are recollected (Catherine’s first space shuttle launch experience, for example) they are touching without being melodramatic. I definitely didn’t almost start crying when she described her first experience of ’Wishes’, the nightly Magic Kingdom firework show, as similar memories of seeing it for the first and last times came flooding back. For the most part, though, I found myself giggling, smiling and thoroughly absorbed in Catherine’s adventures.

If there was one disappointment, it was the lack of focus on Disney and the Walt Disney World resort. However considering Catherine wasn’t technically employed by Disney (so no free park tickets) I can understand why she wouldn’t have spent huge amounts of time in the theme parks themselves (tickets are expensive!). Also, less time spent on Disney itself meant more opportunity to cover a range of aspects of living and working in Orlando about which I had previously known nothing – the aforementioned religious theme parks for example.

As a sidebar, I’d also like to point out that this is the first self-published book I’ve read. And I know as a hopefully-future-publisher I should be saying that they’re the scourge of the industry, that nothing can make up for a Proper Publishing Team. But if Mousetrapped is an example of how self-publishing could turn out, well, then I don’t think it’s such a bad idea after all. It looks (from the Amazon listing, anyway) professionally produced and was undeniably well-written. If self-publishing can get titles with a niche audience, such as Mousetrapped, out there then I certainly think it’s an excellent addition (not replacement for ) to the traditional industry.

This book isn’t for anyone looking to ‘bone up’ on their Disney knowledge, but there’s plenty of travel and insider guides that can do that job. Mousetrapped is a more personal experience of Orlando. So long as you’re not expecting a detailed guide to the city, this title will satisfy Disney lovers everywhere. And even those can’t quite distinguish their Pluto from Goofy will find something to enjoy; Mousetrapped is, first and foremost, about the reality of starting a new life abroad – the good, the bad, and the downright ugly – resulting in a lively and thoroughly enjoyable page-turner.