CHINESE WHISKERS Paperback

Chinese Whiskers by Pallavi Aiyar is a charming and insightful modern fable set in the chaotic, rapidly changing landscape of early 21st-century Beijing, experienced through the eyes of two very different cats. Soyabean, a pampered middle-class cat looked after by a traditional Chinese grandmother, and Tofu, a street-smart dustbin cat, are brought together when they are adopted by foreign residents living in an old Beijing courtyard house. Their idyllic lives are interrupted when Soyabean gets a job as a cat food model, while simultaneously a mysterious virus sickens people across the city, leading to cats being blamed and rounded up. Interweaving real historical events like the SARS epidemic, the Olympic Games, and pet-food scandals with a richly imagined feline world, the novel offers a heartwarming, humorous, and at times tear-jerking commentary on the clash between modern consumerism and traditional Chinese values, and the universal battles of corruption against ideals.