Tiger, Tiger

I just finished listening to the audio book of Tiger, Tiger by Lynne Reid Banks. Set in ancient Rome, this is the story of two tiger cubs, brothers captured and brought to Rome to fight in the arena. One cub is saved from this fate when the Emperor decides to give that cub to his daughter as a gift. The story contrasts the life of this cub, named Boots by his mistress, with the harsh and terrible life of his brother, known only as Brute, who is raised to fight and kill in the arena for the pleasure of the crowd. Parts of the story are told from the perspectives of the cubs, and other parts are from the perpectives of the humans who touch their lives, especially the Emperor's daughter, Aurelia, and Julian, the slave who is responsible for Boots. Aurelia loves her new pet, and with Julian's help, she bonds emotionally with the cub. A very sensitive girl, she despises the bloody games in the arena and tries to be kind to everyone around her. Everything goes well until a thoughtless prank by Aurelia and her cousin Marcus ends in tragedy and threatens everything Aurelia holds dear. An odd twist at the end of book made it very unexpected but satisfying for me.

This was a great story, but I would recommend that young or very sensitive readers approach it with caution, since some of the descriptions of the arena and Brute's training were a little more graphic than I expected. Although all of the characters are fictitious, the historical aspects of the book are quite accurate to other descriptions I've read of this time period and could be distressing to some readers.

Click here to find Tiger, Tiger as a book on CD at SPL.
Click here to find Tiger, Tiger as a print book at SPL.