More than a century after it was first published, Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book remains one of the world’s favourite collections of stories. Mowgli, the human child brought up by wild animals, has imprinted himself on the minds of readers as one of the most-loved literary characters of all time. In this fascinating novel, award-winning author Stephen Alter takes Mowgli’s story forward in time, transposing the classic jungle tale into unexplored terrain where animated movies and other adaptations have never gone before.

Here, we see Mowgli being raised by an elephant matriarch, leader of a herd that lives in a wildlife sanctuary that he calls home. After a series of adventures, the story shifts to the discovery of the boy deep in the jungle by forest rangers. The rescued child is delivered to an orphanage run by an American missionary, Mrs Cranston, in a dusty village on the Gangetic plain. Christened Daniel, the boy grows up, rebelling against the restraints of civilization, yearning for the forests he was taken from, and ultimately settling into an alien, discontented life as an adult.

Set against the backdrop of a newly independent India, and amongst a host of brilliantly imagined characters, Feral Dreams: Mowgli and His Mothers is at once a heartbreaking story of identity, love, and belonging, as it is an exquisite ode to the fast vanishing, beautiful, and sometimes menacing jungles of India.