Great read for youngsters, thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access it in exchange for my feedback.

A novel take on the Great Fire of London.

The story follows the lives of two wildcats as they are ripped from there home and brought to London to be used for potions/medicines. As the siblings are forced apart, the most resistant finds herself as part of an animal-baiting show. With the support of some kinder humans, an escape is executed which only leads to greater chaos and retaliation from the men who run the baiting shows.

The story is well-written, with challenging vocabulary, and is high on drama. One thing to note (and this might be a little picky) is the use of the word "pillock" early on in the story. As a teacher, I'm not sure that this is a word I would want the children in my class to read/use. Overall, the book was enjoyable and offered an interesting take on a well-studied time in history.

This book is the story of two wildcats, captured and brought to London just after the Plague. The creatures suffered many hardships, but also meet some fascinating, kind characters who help them. Would be a great fictional book for KS2 children studying the Great Fire of London.

This was really good and full of higher stakes than I expected. Great story and absolutely stunning illustrations. Superb.

Middle-grade animal stories have been one of our highlights for 2022 so far. From The Lost Whale to The Girl Who Lost a Leopard to While the Storm Rages, these stand-out tales have warmed our hearts and kept us gripped and The Fire Cats of London is no exception. This is the first novel we've read by Anna Fargher and we highly recommend it.

When young wildcats, Asta and Ash are taken from their natural habitat and sold to a London apothecary, Asta is determined to escape. But further horrors lie in store - an horrific fighting ring and a deadly plot which is about to put the whole city in danger. How will Asta get out with her own life, let alone save her brother?

This is the perfect story for animal-lovers and history fans. However, although the publisher's website recommends it for 6-8 years, I would personally place it firmly in the middle-grade category. Gripping from the outset, the animal cruelty makes it a challenging read in places, leaving readers with a very stark question hanging over the actions of humankind. Yet, to counter balance this, there is bucketloads of bravery and kindness too, showing readers that there is always another way...

Asta is a wildcat to root for. Despite her fear and suffering, she remains selfless, tenacious and true to herself. Her love for her brother is endearing and her bravery, in the face of absolute terror, is awe-inspiring. We loved her relationship with Tilia - another wonderful character - and her uneasy acceptance of Miriam. In contrast, there are also some seriously nasty villains, both of the human and feline kind. Beauty was a particularly love-to-hate character and brilliantly written.

Our favourite thing about this novel is how fact and fiction are so cleverly interwoven. We learnt so much about the period - the lifestyle, architecture and the brutal entertainment - alongside the devastating impact of The Great Fire of London and the treatment of supposedly 'lesser creatures'. At the same time, we were gripped by a compelling, fictional story that uses both the era and the fire as a dramatic backdrop and which draws the readers' attention to the animals so often forgotten within human history. Now we can't wait to read more of Anna Fargher's work...

A big thanks to Netgalley and Pan MacMillan for allowing us a review copy. The Fire Cats of London is available to pre-order and is released on 7th July 2022.

Set just after the Great Plague, The Fire Cats of London follows Asta and Ash, two wild cats who live with their mother in the forests away from the city. However, when their mother is killed, they are captured and taken to an apothecary’s shop in London where they will be used to create potions and medicines for the locals. Whilst Asta is suspicious of the shop and Beauty, the cat that already lives there, Asha feels very differently. Asta wants to escape and return to their life in the forest, whilst Asha feels they are safer where they are.

Like Umbrella Mouse and its sequel, this was a wonderfully written book where you quickly forget that the main characters are animals. You are quickly drawn into the London of 1666 where the great Fire of London makes an appearance. Following the plague, suspicion and doubt can be found on every corner and this is seen in the humans as well as the animals in the book. This creates a real tension within the pages of the story which carries the reader on at a pace. And the ending will have you gripped.

As the book progresses, you realise that, although they are siblings, Asta and Asha are very different characters with Asta’s fierce desire for independence coming to the fore whilst Asha is clearly influenced by others.

With beautiful illustrations from Sam Usher, The Fire Cats of London is a book full of emotion that will captivate readers.

I asked my daughter to rate it after reading it to her over a week or so and she went with 3 out of 5!

I thought some of the language was a tiny bit grown up to match the rest, but it was a decent little book.

Thanks.

Anne Fargher really knows how to take you on an adventure.
I love cats and London so for me i really enjoyed this book.
i read this with my son as he loved learning about the fire of London.
Great characters and a really well thought out plot with great base of history.

Anna Fargher's adventures always have a great sense of place, time and emotion. This is no exception. Gritty, shocking, and yet wonderfully steeped in the sense of the people, prejudices and place. The story is as addictive as it is eye-opening, saddening and hopeful. It will open a window onto a life long-lost to time. Here the reader will see the chaos of the fire of London wrapped around the characters' plight and adventure from beginning to end.

The plot. It is England, 1666. Two wildcats, Ash, male, and Asta, female, live on the edge of a woods on the outskirts of London. One day, when no more than kittens, they are torn from their mother's side by huntsmen. Carted off with other animals, they are sold to London apothecary Mad Rather. He plans to keep them alive and take blood and whiskers to make his saleable remedies. Rathder's cat, Beauty, a British Blue cat, sets about persuading the wildcats that they are better off as captives than loose in the wood where they would likely be killed. Ash succumbs to Beauty's wicked wiles, but Asta doesn't and remains antagonistic to the apothecary and his cat. Time passes, and when Asta fails to be tamed, only one course of action is open to Rathder and his horrid business partner, Moore. In debt and needing money, they send her to the city's Bartholomew Fair and the baiting arena. Like so many wild animals, big and small before her, it likely means certain death!

One beacon of hope is Miriam, a Dutch widow who is also an astrologer and herbal medicine practitioner. She knows of Asta's plight but is reviled by Rathder and Moore because she does them out of business and is a foreigner. She also tries to rescue animals from the arena.

I can't say much more than this, but suffice to say that the story weaves its way skillfully through the events up to and during the Great Fire of London. Based on true accounts, this will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Anna's 'The Umbrella Mouse' series. Comparable authors might be Michael Morpurgo and Emma Carroll.

The artwork for this story, which appears throughout, is terrific and fun. I think it certainly adds to the whole feel and acts to temper the story for the younger reader.

I MUST add that we have deliberately not mentioned the beginning scenes. Anna's books are gritty. The underlying subjects make them so. While the subject matter, the key moment within this book's opening chapter is dealt with from afar and without glorification, such was my instant and genuine involvement and attachment to one character in the opening pages, I was stunned at what happened and had to put the book down. It took me quite a while to get over the shock/upset. Sensitive younger readers may well, therefore, need some help with this.

I am a sensitive reader myself, I admit it. But, I can appreciate that this is an excellent, powerful, well-framed and pitched book that will please readers. A 5 Star book and recommended as advised above.

The Fire Cats of London is another mesmerising tale from Anna Fargher. The reader is drawn into the world of Asta and Ash, two wildcats taken from their forest home and thrust into the hustle and bustle of life in the inner city of London.

It’s a deeply emotional tale and the reader moves from sorrow to fear to excitement with every turn of the page. Asta is a remarkable character and I was absolutely captivated by her. I was also deeply moved reading the plight of the animals and the cruel treatment they received.

This is an exceptional book and I know it will be loved by readers in Year 5 upwards. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Two young wildcats, Asta and Ash, are captured from their home in a beautiful forest and taken to apothecary’s shop in London to be used to create all sorts of medicines and potions and tinctures. It’s the summer of 1666 and superstition is rife with anti Catholic and anti foreign sentiment. Asta is desperate to escape London and return to the wild forest, but she has to fight against a perilous plot that is threatening the city and not just the caged animals within.

Anna Fargher wrote the beautiful Umbrella Mouse series which captivated me with complete awe and wonder and I knew I had to read anything else that she had written, particularly if animals were involved. I am a sucker for stories involving animals and I loved this compelling tale of two siblings stolen from their home and forced to grow up before their time. I don’t want to give away spoilers of what happened within the tale, but the plight of so many animals had me feeling real emotion and pain in my gut as I worried for all their safety! We all know what happened in London in 1666 and so it is not a huge surprise that the Great Fire of London is involved in this tale; let’s just say there is much mystery and many secrets surrounding this in the story!

The author creates a magical cast of animal characters whom all have agency within their story. Asta and Ash juxtapose one another; Asta is fierce and independent, knowing she has to return to the forest and Ash is more easily swayed by outside influences, keen to remain in the perceived safety of the city. The bear family within the baiting ring are easy to love and there are many more wonderful animal characters that feel just as real as their human counterparts. Beauty, the apothecary owner’s cat, is a sinister and sly figure with sickly sweet words and actions to manipulate others.

An alternative take on a key event in history with animal characters! What’s not to love? 5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Books and NetGalley for this e-book review copy.

After the beauty and depth of Farghar's Umbrella Mouse books I've really been looking forward to this one and while it is as full of adventure as before I just didn't quite manage to connect with the characters in the same way, it was harder to suspend my disbelief at the way the animals could all communicate and work together.
This is a minor niggle and I loved the story as a whole and think it will really appeal to the MG audience it is intended for.