2 New and Recommended Reads for January

The Wildings - Nilanjana Roy

This is a book for all those cat lovers out there – those who know cats as felines / cats, not as ‘kitties’ or any other derogatory and disrespectful term… These cats mean business.Set in India in the heart of old Delhi – it is atmospheric and superbly crafted. Three main types of cats live in the area – indoor cats, most of whom never go out, the Wildings a group of felines living with respect for each other, their prey and other species around them and another group the Ferals – enclosed in a shuttered house who’s Big Foot is coming to the end of its life…They are not respectful. They kill for pleasure and enjoy any torment that they can cause in the process.This is not a cat book for those of a delicate nature. It is a beautifully observed extraordinary volume. There is life and death in this book – beautifully described and detailed…As to characters – each is distinctive and as different as you might wish from a book that isn’t about cats – some cruel, some wise, and the kittens, almost mindlessly falling and tumbling though life and the dangers that are set against them. It is marvellous. 

      There is a note in the back which states that the story continues in a volume called The One Hundred Names of Darkness. Which I will be ordering, of course, as soon as I return to work tomorrow. I hope and trust it will be as good. Looking on the computer – there is a note that states this title won’t be available till November. Irritating, but I expect I will survive. 

      My only complaint – and it is a severe one, is that Nilanjana Roy, lives in India, which I suppose is reasonable, considering the setting of this book. It does mean though that it is unlikely I will ever meet her and she probably won’t come and ‘do’ an event in Waterstones. Which is a great pity. I have been told though, that I can have a single title table for this – and will organise this as soon as the weekend is over.

The Tale of One Bad Rat - Bryan Talbot

Helen Potter lived a happy life until she got lost in a nightmare of sexual abuse. Now she's on a journey that takes her through urban and rural England along the same path that another Potter, Beatrix Potter, once took. Across the decades, two lives touch, and Helen discovers that the strength of two is far greater than one. She becomes the armored knight before her own personal demons in this story of heroism and courage.