Maja Novak

The Feline Plague Maja Novak

A deftly written novel brimming with magical realist touches, The Feline Plague tells the story of Ira, a Slovenian child who discovers early the cruelty of the adult world?particularly the mistreatment of animals. Ira struggles to reconcile her life with a world in which people are small-minded, the chances for happiness are few, and petty tyrants rule. She takes a job with The Lady, a capitalist entrepreneur who runs the Ark, a pet emporium where she expects ?pets will become the new jewelry.? Ira careens into adulthood alongside a fairy-tale cast: her evil mother and sisters, a benevolent grandmother, best friend and alter ego Felipe, a blind painter who moonlights as a window dresser, and a pair of twins so identical their employer thinks they?re one person. Acclaimed novelist Maja Novak masterfully conjures a series of vivid tableaux, setting Ira loose in a world where miniature wooden animals come to life?where jealousy, dreams, and realities unfold as Ira?s rite of passage parallels the backdrop of communism?s dying days and capitalism?s shaky start.