Review: Varjak Paw

Title: Varjak Paw
Author: SF Said
Nationality: British
Year: 2003
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Length: 200+ pages
Rating: 9/10
Summary: If only grown-up books were this good

The outline

Pedigree cat Varjak Paw is the only one of his family who dreams of the great outdoors but the Mesopotamian Blues have never left the safety of the Contessa’s house. You can probably guess what happens next.

Sample

Varjak could see for miles and miles. There were no walls or trees to block his view any more. Just open space, rippling out ahead of him, beneath him, above him. He was standing in space, and it was a long way to fall.
He peered down the inside of the wall. He could see nothing through the trees. The Gentleman's cats and the Elder Paw were hidden by the tangled net of branches. There was no way back. He was truly on his own.

The verdict

I certainly wasn’t expecting this fairly obscure and underrated children’s book to be anywhere near as good as it is. Ignore the clichéd and pedestrian opening chapters – from there onwards the narrative opens up into a breathtaking and powerful coming-of-age story, by turns charming, sinister and exhilarating.

Said knows how to keep a narrative moving effortlessly and it’s a shame that few adult novels manage to be so frightening or uplifting. There are strong female characters, dastardly villains and glorious set pieces and it’s no insult to say that parts of this novel reminded me of both Watership Down and Kafka on the Shore. An added bonus were the atmospheric illustrations by Dave McKean, who really understands how cats move.

Personally, it impressed me far more than Harry Potter or His Dark Materials and would be my personal pick for best children’s story of recent years.