In this imaginative debut, the tale of Noahs Ark is brilliantly recast as a story of fate and family, set in a near-future London.Over the course of a single night in 2052, a homeless man named Cuthbert Handley sets out on an astonishing quest to release the animals of the London Zoo. When he was a young boy, Cuthberts grandmother had told him he inherited a magical ability to communicate with the animal worlda gift she called the Wonderments. Ever since his older brothers death in childhood, Cuthbert has heard voices. These maddening whispers must be the Wonderments, he believes, and recently they have promised to reunite him with his lost brother and bring about the coming of a Lord of Animals . . . if he fulfills this curious request.Cuthbert flickers in and out of awareness throughout his desperate pursuit. But his grand plan is not the only thing that threatens to disturb the collective unease of the city. Around him is greater turmoil, as the rest of the world anxiously anticipates the rise of a suicide cult set on destroying the worlds animals along with themselves.Meanwhile, Cuthbert doggedly roams the zoo, cutting open the enclosures, while pressing the animals for information about his brother. Just as this unlikely yet loveable hero begins to release the animals, the cults members flood the citys streets. Has Cuthbert succeeded in harnessing the power of the Wonderments, or has he only added to the chaosand sealed these innocent animals fatesNight of the Animals is an enchanting and inventive tale that explores the boundaries of reality, the ghosts of love and trauma, and the power of redemption.
