Elsie has a boring summer ahead with her Uncle John, except it turns out to be a lot more interesting when she magically travels back in time to a tiger hunt being led by…her uncle John as a young boy!
Elsie gets to know John, and his friend Mandeep, who are both on different quests in the Indian jungle – John to hunt, Mandeep to stop hunts. These two are Elsie’s fast-paced yet reluctant guides through her historical connection, and the uncovering of a secret plot run by the evil hunter Sowerby (who, I have no doubt, is based on some awful real-life hunters who have and still do exist today).
The Time Traveller and the Tiger is a very educational, challenging read and asks some often very difficult questions about the human-animal relationships (some that even I found hard to read, so keep this in mind). Yes, this book is a really fun, fantastical romp of a middle-grade story but its serious side depicts how cruel humans have been to wild animals, especially tigers, since we began conquering the earth.
It’s a very original story and it kept me glued to it to see whether Elsie outwitted the hunters and managed to get back home to her “old Uncle John” in time for tea!
