Dog Boy by Eva Hornung

Dog Boy, by Eva Hornung, is set amidst the chaos and poverty that is late 20th century Moscow. This often confronting novel explores the timeless story of a human child raised by animals, but this telling is one of vivid and sometimes violent realism.
Abandoned by his mother, uncle and the system he is left to perish alone in a derelict apartment building in the slums of Moscow. Four year old Romochka, driven by cold and hunger wanders lost and starving until he follows a feral dog, Mamochka, to her lair in the cellar of an abandoned church. Mamochka is the leader of a clan of dogs and there she raises Ramochka as one of her own puppies. Ramochka learns the complex language and behaviour of dogs and comes to identify himself as more canine than human until fascination with the human world draws him to venture there.
Dog Boy has been shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. I highly recommend this gritty novel that is both an engaging and thought provoking read.
Roxanne