The Tiger’s Wife

By Tea Obreht

While living in a nameless Balkan country, a grandfather shares the stories of his life through tales of the “tiger’s wife” and “deathless man” with his young granddaughter, Natalia. After her grandfather dies alone in a strange place, Natalia realizes that these childhood tales were about events in his life and unlock a secret that she has been searching for. The descriptions of the people and the countryside are rich and vibrant and the story and dialog are refreshingly original.

Our Tuesday night book club recently read this novel and the reviews were mixed. Several of our members felt that the story was too long and moved back and forth through time so often leaving the reader feeling confused. I enjoyed the audiobook format of the book which was performed by two very talented readers who portrayed Natalia and her grandfather.

Téa Obreht, the youngest of The New Yorker’s twenty best American fiction writers under forty, has won several awards for “The Tiger’s Wife”.

~ Paula