Tea Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife is a marvel of a novel! Set in a wounded Balkan country in remission, this novel interweaves several narratives that centre around Natalia and her grandfather.
Natalia is grieving for her grandfather and while working as a doctor visiting orphanages she picks up the trail of her grandfather’s last expedition. Through memories of her grandfather and his stories she delves into a world where fiction and reality blur. One of the main reference points of the book is Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which is the grandfather’s favourite book in the novel. The use of it and the plot involving the Tiger and ofcourse his wife is reminiscent of Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi. Highlighting the power of books over film, this particular storyline was mystical and ambiguous rather than cartoonish.
Obreht’s book encompasses myth, legend, superstition and good old fashioned story telling. The narrative flicks from past to future yet the themes remain the same; destruction, war and the dichotomy of death.
You will enjoy this book if you don’t like reading things that are obvious and predictable. It’s not necessarily an easy read as it can be a little hard to follow the place names and the cultural references, however it flows and becomes a page turner towards the end.
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