JAKARTA TAILS: The Continuing Adventures of Soyabean and Tofu

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.