Jakarta Tails

My favourite globetrotting cats Tofu and Soybean are back in another glorious rumpus-bumpus this time in Indonesia. Pallai Aiyar's series continues to delight as the fabulous felines brave fake news factories and catnappings and make a most surprising friend. -- Nilanjana Roy

Soyabean and Tofu two alley cats from Beijing have recently moved to Jakarta with Mr and Mrs A their human family. Just as they are settling into a tropical idyll of frangipani trees and long snoozes strange goings on in the neighbourhood have them on alert. A rat is skulking about in the garden a mysterious neighbour is making life difficult for everyone and the family's beloved driver is attacked by a vicious mob. Separately Mrs A a journalist is fast discovering that under Indonesia's surface calm communal tensions are rife. As events snowball the cats find themselves unwittingly sucked into a fake news network whose aim is to upset the country's fragile religious harmony. A cat's-eye view of human foibles Pallavi Aiyar's new novel is a humorous and poignant snap-shot of contemporary Indonesia that will resonate with anyone who has loved a pet.