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‘We need the literature of other countries to expand our
horizons and stimulate our ideas. Without it, we are not only
diminished, we are starved’
(The Times, Magnus Linklater 29/06/05)

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Title: Wildcat Behind Glass (The)

Author: Alki Zei

Translator: Karen Emmerich

Illustrator:

Publisher: Restless Books (USA)

Date Published: 2024

Format: Hardback

Genre: History

Book Category: Fiction

Age Range: 9-11

Original Title: First published in Greek as Kaplani tis Vitrinos, Editions “Themelio”, Greece, 1963. First published in English and translated by Edward Fenton, Victor Gollancz, 1969

Country of Origin: Greece

Wildcat Behind Glass (The)

by Alki Zei
Age Range: 9-11

Alki Zei (1923-2020) was one of Greece’s most famous authors for children and adults. Wildcat Under Glass was written in 1963, first appearing in English in 1969, translated by Edward Fenton and won the Mildred L Batchelder Award in 1970. With a lively new translation by Karen Emmerich, and after 55 years, this powerful modern classic by a master storyteller is back in print.

Set in 1936, the story centres on a family living on a Greek Island whose members react in different ways to the changing political climate after the Fascist dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas is installed. Nine-year-old Melia, the narrator, fears for her beloved cousin Niko who is in the resistance movement and has had to go into hiding. Grandfather, Mama and Stamatina hate what is happening, and so too does their father, but he is concerned he will lose his job at the bank if he is not seen to outwardly comply with the new rules and regulations that are introduced. Great-aunt Despina doesn’t see what all the fuss is about and Melia’s older sister, Myrto proudly joins the Fascist Youth organisation at school unaware of the sinister undertones of the fascist doctrine.

Combined with changing life on the Greek island are the idyllic summer holidays spent in Lamagari with friends Artemis, Manoli, Odysseus and little Aurora, and the risks the children take to hide Niko when he becomes a wanted man. The stuffed Wildcat in a glass cabinet holds a place of honour in the family home and comes to symbolise the spirit of freedom that was kept alive in Greece after the Fascist dictatorship came to power.

Inspiration for the book was drawn from Zei’s own childhood growing up under Metaxas’ dictatorship and the occupation of Greece, first by Mussolini’s army and then by Nazi Germany. Zei’s remarkable skill was in being able to create a story about everyday events while major political upheaval was taking place in Greece and democracy was slowly being eroded. The clever use of humour, such as when some bumbling policemen are following the children, is in sharp contrast to the more sinister event of books being burnt in the town square, including Grandfather’s beloved ‘ancients’. Myrto’s changing character also displays a chilling normalcy, not an unfamiliar thing in today’s world of growing populism, as she slowly becomes indoctrinated with fascist beliefs.

Despite the intervening years, Zei’s book, with Emmerich’s skilful translation, has a contemporary feel making it as relevant today as it was when it was first written.

Other Alki Zei titles translated into English and on the Outside In Website are Petros’ War (1972); Tina’s Web (2007) and The Mauve Umbrella (2016).

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