You must have heard about The Tiger’s Wife a long time ago. Téa Obreht received so many compliments that I’m sure you wondered who this young author was. Your interest may be piqued when she won the Orange Prize. Surely the things you read or heard from your friends nudged you a little too. So, have you read this one yet?
The Tiger’s Wife works so well on issues such as superstitions, highly widespread within some cultures, and what gossip can lead to. Thus, it makes you think how good a first book it is. The subject takes many turns, makes smooth transitions from one story to another, and the characters grow gloriously. Obreht’s style is quite fluent, the rhythm does not change throughout the book, and it manages to keep the excitement alive. Enjoy!
The Tiger’s Wife
A tiger escapes from the local zoo, padding through the ruined streets and onwards, to a ridge above the Balkan village of Galina. His nocturnal visits hold the villagers in a terrified thrall – but for one boy, the tiger is a thing of magic.
Natalia is the granddaughter of that boy. Now a doctor, she is visiting orphanages in the war-torn Balkans when she receives word of her beloved grandfather’s death, far from their home, in circumstances shrouded in mystery.
Compelled to unravel the truth, Natalia stumbles upon a clue that will lead her to a tattered copy of The Jungle Book, and then to the most extraordinary story her grandfather never told her – the legend of the tiger’s wife.
Téa Obreht
Téa Obreht is an American novelist. Her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife, won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction. And was a 2011 National Book Award finalist. Obreht was a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She was named by The New Yorker as one of the twenty best American fiction writers under forty.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
