Take one girl, orphaned on the way to England for the first time from her homeland of India. Deserted and left in an orphanage, separated from the only family she has, and stripped of even the name that she knows, Sahira must fight for her own sanity and survival. Fortunately, along the way, she makes new friends, is re-united with old and forges a new life for herself.

Technically, this is historical fiction, and would definitely appeal to lovers of that genre, but there is also so much here for adventure-lovers, those that want to learn more about the struggles of others and those that simply want an extremely well-written story. I would recommend this to any mature reader of about 9 years upwards.

Sahira lost her parents to fever on board the ship which was taking them to London by The East India Company representatives who her father worked for.
Along side her are two tigers that were being delivered to the menagerie in the Tower of London but before her father died he asked her to keep a promise to protect them. Arriving at London she had no where to go as no one would take care of her because of her native background, the only place would be an orphanage. This is her journey to find a way to get back to them and fulfil her promise.

I truly loved this story. It was so heartwarming and played with all my emotions. Sahira is a intelligent 12year old girl who would not be accepted because of her ethnicity. This quote just sums up her struggles that no one cares for her and that the tigers is all she has left to feel close to her parents.
“But one look at that unfortunate complexion and they will know” sniffed Mrs Bingham. “There’s no whitewashing her scandalous birth.”

The detailing in this story is perfection and I could imagine every scene in my mind like it was a movie.

I was kindly given the opportunity to read this in advance, thanks to Lion Hudson Ltd through NetGalley for an exchange for an honest review.

“Sahira knew only too well how they felt. Fitting in with this new London life felt a little like sloughing off her old ways, revealing a new and vulnerable skin.”

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy of this book for review.

CW: Bullying, physical abuse, child abuse, grief, loss of parents.

Sahira doesn’t have an easy time from the first time she steps foot on the page. Traveling to a new country, she’s already lost her family and she’s about to lose her animals, which she’s come to think of as family, too. Whilst dealing with grief, she’s thrown into a land that doesn’t want to accept her as who she is and is desperate to bend her to their will. It’s not an easy story to read and yet it’s really impactful.

Sahira is a really inspiring character. Not only does she always fight for what she believes in and the people that might be less fortunate than her, but she doesn’t give up. She just brushes herself down and tries again – which is hard. She’s constantly being battered from multiple directions, but she just ties the laces on her blue boots tighter, holds her chin up high and carries on. She kind of defies gender conventions or, maybe more accurately, the need to fit in a gendered box, being as happy to parade around pretending to be a princess as she is to pretend to be a boy. She’s smart and brave and she’s a perfect role model for girls – especially for girls who don’t usually see themselves in books.

Sahira makes a number of different friends once she gets to London. Whilst they’re rarely perfect and aren’t always there for her, it was good to see Sahira have some light in her life. My favourite had to be Ned, with his constant gratefulness for Sahira and his love of a certain striped beast.

Her best and most loyal friends are, of course, the tigers. I loved her relationship and the loyalty she returned to them. I also really appreciated the gentleness and understanding she put into each species. I really hope she got to become an explorer when she became older.

I loved how Sahira’s experiences translated onto her view of the world. Of course it would be easier for her to understand and navigate this huge, scary city if she thinks of it as a familiar jungle.

The orphanage felt like a suitably depressing place. Sahira did better than most to keep her hopes up, but my heart broke for every time they came crashing down. I really despised everyone in that orphanage (bar maybe two) and all I wanted to do was give Sahira a hug.

I’ll be honest, I had a little issue with the pacing. The start was felt quite dense and, when mixed with this overwhelming sense of sadness, it felt a little slow. I thought it really picked up when Sahira started visiting her tigers again and interacting with other children that were interested in the animals’ welfare. I found the end to be really fun and exciting, though, and I liked the high-stakes side of it. It felt like a satisfying happy ending.

Sahira is a young Indian/English girl who just lost both her parents while traveling to England. All Sahira has left to her name is the clothes in her trunk and the blue boots on her feet. The last remembrance of her parents are the two tigers, Rama and Sita, who were saved from death and are now with her on the journey to England. Sahira must live in an orphanage and adapt to the ways of English society. Along the way, Sahira learns a lot about life, friendships, and a love for her tiger friends that no one can deny. This book felt like a mash up of Annie and A little Princess. I highly recommend this read to anyone who enjoys a courageous young lady protagonista. The only downside for me was the ending; which fell a little flat. The ultimate showdown did not live to my expectation or excite me like other books of it's kind have done before. But with that aside, I am overall pleased with this novel.

Firstly, I'd like to say that this book made me sad, cry, angry, happy, laugh out loud, groan in annoyance, roll my eyes, curl my hands up into fists <i>and simultaneously</i> make me want to stop reading completely and never put it down.

Sahira arrives in London after a long voyage across the sea, where her parents died due to illness. She is the protector of two Tigers, both of whom find her presence a comfort even within the cage they are on.

As much as I would like to say everything got better from there - it didn't. Be ready for the stream of 'oh it'll get better!' to dashed or set back, because this is an emotional roller coaster - but one that is worth seeing through to the end.

The animals in this book, and the fact that we finally have a female who cares and understands for them is amazing. Love the name drops for those who would have actually been in London at this time, like Wellington and Darwin.

The racism Sahira faces makes me so sad. I wish I could have wrapped her up and helped her - especially when adults thought they knew better simply because they were older. We all know that isn't always the case! There are so many adults in this book I would have happily carted off for hurting Sahira.

Not the usual type of book I'd read, and even though I felt emotional while reading this book - it was worth reading. Enjoy the ride!

TRIGGER WARNINGS SHOULD BE USED FOR THIS BOOK. Publishers please think about this more next time!

I received an advance reader copy ofthis book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This was an emotional read about a young mixed race girl who had become an orphan in the 1820s. The orphanage situation is heart wrenching in places as it must of been awful for children living in them in those days.

The animal parts of this book were amazing. I loved how they were incorporated in with the story and found it fascinating.

This is a fantastic story for children aged 9-15.

Pleasant novel that sometimes struggles with pacing, particularly at the overly neat conclusion. Sahira is an excellent MC and one of the few biracial characters to appear in works set during this time period. Most of the supporting characters were interesting as well, although I found the immense cruelty of some of her fellow orphans and the cowardice and lack of care of many of the adults to be extreme and unlikely. I don't necessarily cosign the comparisons to "A Little Princess," but I can see how the two books might be read together in a comparative exercise.

The premise of the book is a young girl, named Sahira, came over to Victorian London, with her parents and 2 tigers that they were selling, having caught them in India. Tragically, Sahira's parents die during the voyage over and the tigers go off to their new home and Sahira, forced to become more 'English' is sent to a rather detestable and cruel orphanage. At this orphanage, Sahira, renamed Eleanor, is subjected to horrendous abuse and bullying, mainly due to the fact that she is foreign. Eventually, she finds her way to the tigers she befriended and spends as much time with them as she can as they are the only real link to her old life that she has left.

This book perplexed me in many different ways. I loved the premise of the story but don't feel that it was executed as well as it could have been. I did, unfortunately, feel a bit uncomfortable reading a story about an Indian girl written by a white writer. It didn't feel right and, as such, I don't think the character of Sahira was as rich as she could have been. My favourite character was the loveable Ned. He was wonderfully written and I adored his escapades with Nebby.

I did enjoy the story and the development of it and felt the ending was just perfect.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a free copy of this in return for an honest review.

This story begins with Sahira losing both her parents whilst travelling from India to London and her luck doesn't get any better throughout the story. She is faced with many prejudices with a father who was English and an Indian mother. She constantly feels like she belongs to nowhere, her fathers family doesn't acknowledge her as family so she ends up in an awful orphanage.

This was a gut-wrenching story that I couldn't not feel helpless whilst reading. It really shows you how hopeless it would have been for an orphan in 1820.

On a brighter note, the historical accuracy of animal keeping in London in the 19th century was amazing. The animal element of the story was captivating and fascinating.

On the whole, it was a very enjoyable read!

I am a great fan of Julia Golding and she has really surpassed herself with this book. It is absolutely brilliant with its evocation of early 19th century England and the tribulations of being a mixed race child, alone in a strange country. The sense of time and place is very strong and will make many people want to explore further.

Here is my review of The Tigers in the Tower ahead of the blog tour in September. I will post it to my blog then.

Lose yourself in the rich symbolism and powerful messages of The Tigers in the Tower by Julia Golding. Sahira faces the jungle of Georgian London with no one but two majestic Indian tigers. Having lost her parents to fever on the treacherous sea voyage from Calcutta to London, Sahira must fend for herself and fight to protect these beautiful big cats. A ghost of former self, she must face loss, grief, loneliness and rejection as those around her try to whitewash her appearance and force her to deny her treasured mixed heritage.

Sahira’s father was transporting the tigers to the King’s Royal Menagerie in the Tower of London – a wondrous collection of creatures never before seen in England. When she is separated from her feline friends, Sahira does all she can to be with them and protect them from the dangers that lie ahead. These tigers are her family, her home and everything that is important to her. With an unlikely collection of new friends, Sahira defies everyone who stands in her way to fight for what she believes is right.

The language of this story is truly magical. With subtle references to the great poem The Tyger by William Blake, readers are immersed in the value of literature and poetry. Words memorised can never taken away and Sahira clings to the strength of language and story her parents instilled in her when she was young. The imagery of animals, and tigers specifically, is absolutely beautiful and speaks deeply to those who commune with cats.

The Tigers in the Tower is a wonderful story about fitting in and finding your place in the world while staying true to yourself. It teaches readers to be confident and strong even in the most difficult situations and to trust their instincts about what is right and who they are. Everyone is important and everyone’s story is valuable. Sahira shows us that strength comes from within and our past pushes us forwards into a positive future. Like a tiger, her quiet strength, determination and focus lead her to the place where she belongs.

This was a fantastic updating of classic Victorian/ Dickensian child hood fiction, like A Little Princess or The Secret Garden. The protagonist is accompanying a pair of tigers from her home of India to the tower of London, but her parents die on the way. Of course, she ends up in an orphanage with cruel adults and children, friends to make and adventures to have. The cast of characters includes the prime minister and Robert Peel's son and the zookeepers at the tower of London. This would be a great book to go with school topics about Victorian London, animals or India. The heroine is mixed race, with a Muslim mother and aristocratic English father, and she faces racism and sexism, which would lead to some great discussion. I loved this book, and would be happy to read it with year four and up, 8+.

An unique and touching story about a young girl and her tigers finding a home and their place in the world as she Lost her family and home and needs to fight for herself.

While the pacing felt a little off a times, I was very interested in the main character qnd her journey with the tigers which pushed me through some moments in the middle and beginning where it lagged a little.

In the end i found it to be a delightful story with a diverse cast that i wish i had read when i was a child.

Certainly a must for Middle Grade fans

trigger warning
<spoiler> lethal illness, being orphaned, animal cruelty, bullying, grief, domestic abuse, corporeal punishment </spoiler>

As the ship finally reaches London, only Sahira and the two Indian tigers, Rama and Sita, are alive. The people from the East India Trading Company, who not really know what to do with a coloured child, sent a message to her lordly grandfather and put her in an orphanage.

They tell her it would be a very good orphanage, but as it's situated in Whitechapel, it will come to no surprise to you that the children get exploited for cheap labour, are underfed and beaten.
All the while, Sahira misses the tigers, the last link to her past, to her family.

This book made me feel things. Not all of them good.
Let me address the metaphorical element in the room: This included one of my personal trigger topics and I will spend the evening trying to keep myself from doing things because I read this. It's not the first time I've said this, but trigger warnings are important and there is no logic reason why publishers don't give them. You read the books you publish, you edit them, you know what's in them. Of course, it could happen that you overlook a topic, but then at least you would have tried - and if the readers tell you you need to add something, just do it.
It won't cost you anything but would appeal to readers. Not all of them, but the books that <i>do</i> come with warnings can use it to their advantage.

Other things this made me feel were things I was supposed to feel, like anger at the orphanage people, adults who dismiss a child's words because they think they know better, who don't even bother to listen and really have no business being in contact with children.
People who are cruel to animals make me angry. So angry.

I felt with Sahira and her friends and was really hoping we'd get a good solution to all plotpoints. We did.

I like both that we have a character that bothers to analyse an animal's situation to see where the problem might lie, and that, in this case, we have a <i>girl</i> doing that. As much as I like Hagrid, I am sick of only boys in middle grade fiction being well versed in animal knowledge and try to befriend every creature they can.

Further, I liked how the topic of Sahira's cultural heritage was acknowledged. While her late father was a British lord, her mother was a Persian noble woman, and Sahira grew up speaking and reading both English and Farsi, with a sprinkling of Hindustan as she's from India.
The British people she meets usually assume she's a Hindoo princess, which annoys her to no end. She shifts between both worlds and thus has, sadly, problems to find a new home after her parent's death.
Also, this book illustrates how you really need to know people so they can get your chums to work out how it should go.

I have a soft spot for parrots that randomly interrupt conversations to spew rude words.

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

a enjoyable read. children will enjoy it. it’s the type of stories i loved as a child i recommend to children. reminds me of the tales i heard when i was small

This book is absolutely amazing. I cried, I raged, and above all I absolutely loved Sahira's journey. The story is about a young Indian girl who is sent to live in England after the death of her parents, and the only thing she has is her two beloved tigers. Her journey into a new land and the prejudices and injustices she faced truly had me riled up for her. Her strength of character and will was astounding. It portrayed a realistic portrayal of the prejudices that she faced in the time. Overall this was an amazing story about one girl's venture into finding herself and paving a life for her and her tigers despite all the obstacles and injustices she faced. I would highly recommend this wonderful story to anyone.