FERAL DREAMS: Mowgli & His Mothers by Stephen Alter [Paperback]

Feral Dreams: Mowgli and His Mothers by Stephen Alter is a compelling reimagining of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, set more than a century after the original story. The novel picks up the tale of Mowgli, the human child raised by wild animals, and explores his life in a completely new direction.

In this fresh retelling, Mowgli is raised not by wolves, but by a matriarchal elephant who leads a herd in a wildlife sanctuary. The story unfolds as Mowgli, deeply connected to the jungle, experiences a series of adventures with his elephant family. Eventually, his peaceful existence is disrupted when he is discovered by forest rangers and taken to an orphanage run by an American missionary named Mrs. Cranston in a small village on the Gangetic plain. There, he is renamed Daniel, and as he grows, he struggles with the constraints of civilization, feeling out of place in a world that is foreign to him.

The novel delves into Daniel's turbulent transition from his wild, nurturing jungle life to the cold, structured world of the orphanage and beyond. As an adult, he yearns for the freedom and connection he once had with the jungle, and the story examines themes of identity, belonging, and love as Daniel navigates the conflicts between his past and the present.

Set against the backdrop of a newly independent India, Feral Dreams not only explores the psychological and emotional impact of Mowgli’s forced assimilation into human society but also paints a vivid, melancholic picture of India’s disappearing jungles. Through beautifully crafted prose, Stephen Alter gives readers an evocative, heart-wrenching exploration of one man’s struggle to reconcile his identity, his origins, and the ever-changing world around him.

This novel is a tribute to the legacy of Kipling’s The Jungle Book while also providing a fresh and thought-provoking narrative that touches on the themes of environmental conservation, cultural displacement, and the quest for self-understanding.