Charming, chilling novel about cats
Cats are peculiar creatures. They live on their own terms, not their humans’. And for those cats who live by their wits, what of them? Delhi-based writer Nilanjana Roy, a literary critic and editor, provides her take in The Wildings, a charming and sometimes chilling first novel in a two-part series.
Set in the Nizamuddin Colony of the Indian capital city, Delhi, the wildings are a clan of stray cats who follow the rules of the animal kingdom — no killing prey who are asleep, sanctuary is a right and the calling of truces between species (they can speak a common language called Junglee) is an essential part of coexistence.
The book begins as the community senses a newcomer, an orphaned kitten named Mara with extraordinary abilities. She is a Sender, the rare cat who appears “when the need is strong.” She can communicate with other animals at vast distances and even travel through a sort of feline hologram system.
Adopted by both Bigfeet (as humans are dubbed) and then by the young queen Beraal who had been sent to kill her, she is an object of distrust by the other cats (they communicate using their whiskers). Too afraid to leave her home, Mara finds friendship where she can, from visits from the mischievous kitten Southpaw to the tigers in the local zoo via her “Sendings.”
The reason for this need is revealed when Southpaw gets chased into the Shuttered House, a place of evil omens. Unbeknownst to the wildings, it is full of an army of feral cats (“shut up all the time, something warped in them”) who have never ventured outside.
The strict animal code of conduct is rendered useless; they prefer to terrorize their victims rather than simply kill them. The scent of death surrounding their human guardian makes the wildings realize an impending invasion is on its way.
The novel is fable-esque until the deadly battle begins. The Nizamuddin wildings ally with other cat clans, birds such as parial cheels and bulbuls, and even mice and ants, with eventually Mara’s powers coming to their aid to fight off the loathsome intruders.
Roy’s obvious love of these creatures has produced a vivid world while warning of the dangers of isolation and fear. The Wildings is a novel that can seduce even those most indifferent to cats. Piali Roy is a freelance writer in Toronto. She is no relation to the author.