"Everything necessary to understand my grandfather lies between two stories: the story of the tiger's wife and the story of the deathless man."
-Natalia, from the novel
The Tiger's Wife is wildly unique, one of the strangest I've read in a while. The switchbacks in time and meshing of folklore and realism was quite challenging. I found myself alternatingly intrigued and confused by three story lines.
Main character, Natalia, is a young doctor just setting out on a medical mission trip when she receives the sad news that her precious grandfather has died under mysterious circumstances. She hears from her grandmother that his body has been returned but his belongings are missing. Natalia feels compelled to learn more about his death and retrieve the personal effects that are needed to complete his death ritual.
During the course of these endeavors, Natalia remembers many stories her grandfather has told her, with interesting characters and a number of animals. The "deathless man" has an important role but villagers Luka the butcher, Darisa the Bear and the Apothecary are other primaries. There are many mentions of The Jungle Book, which Natalia's grandfather had carried religiously and references to Shere Khan, the tiger of that story. A rogue tiger related to the title "tiger's wife" is most significant of the animals, of course, but there are also an elephant, a bear and a parrot who recites poetry.
From reviews I have read, The Tiger's Wife, Ms. Obreht's first novel, is seemingly a critical success. At her young age and with her vivid imagination, she will likely reach literary heights. I am rating this book a 3---a story I didn't quite understand or enjoy but with a writing style I could definitely appreciate. It left me with perhaps more questions than answers. In fact, one discussion question from the publisher's suggested list was: Would you want to know if you were going to die or go "in suddenness"? I look forward to our group discussion. More after the meeting....
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The Page Turners' ratings for The Tiger's Wife averaged 2.8, the lowest in several months. Among the words used to describe it were weird, frustrating, confusing. We didn't like that we were jerked around by changes in time period without knowing when things were taking place. One member thought the author had a few short stories in mind and decided to weave them into a novel but wasn't very successful. Most of us did appreciate the loving relationship of Natalia and her grandfather. The genre is designated as fiction---certainly not historical fiction since the history and geography are very ambiguous. And there is so much myth or fable or legend mixed in that make the plot (if indeed there IS a plot) even more perplexing.
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