In the labyrinthine alleys and ruins of Nizamuddin, an old neighbourhood in Delhi, lives a small band of cats. Unfettered and wild, they fear no one, go where they will, and do as they please. Until, one day, a terrified orange-coloured kitten with monsoon green eyes and remarkable powers, lands in their midst—the first in a series of extraordinary events that threatens to annihilate them and everything they hold dear.

Nilanjana Roy is the author of three bestselling novels — Black River, The Wildings and The Hundred Names of Darkness — and a collection of essays on reading, The Girl Who Ate Books. She lives in Delhi with four irrepressible cats, and writes a column on books for the Financial Times.