Téa Obreht's "The Tiger's Wife"

     Plot twist: I do actually read books published in the past century! In fact, the book I just finished up today came out in 2011. That's only two years ago!

     But in all seriousness, Téa Obreht's novel, "The Tiger's Wife" is absolutely fantastic.

     It is hard to describe the novel's plot because the novel is really several stories woven together into one lovely narrative. On the most basic level it is the story of Natalia, a young doctor, telling the story of her grandfather. But this explanation is too basic to do the novel any justice.

     In regards to time frame the novel jumps from the present to the past back to the present and then even farther into the past...basically it's all over the place. Confusing as this sounds, the book was very easy to follow along with. I think one reason why the story is so coherent, despite it's jumps in time and story, is that the entire book is told in first person from Natalia's point of view. Natalia is even our narrator when she tells the reader of the Tiger's Wife, even though the story took place before Natalia was born. That Natalia is consistently in the story adds to the sense of unity between the different plotlines. She is the thread that weaves all the pieces together.

     Part of the reason for the varying plots, and also one of the reasons that I love this novel, is that Obreht fleshes out nearly every character. And by flesh out, I mean tell you what the character was like when he or she was a kid and thus, the reader understands every character's motives. Because of this, the reader finds him or herself liking all the characters at one point or another, even the ones that are seemingly unlikeable.

     Another reason why I found this book so compelling is the lovely struggle between reality and folklore. The novel takes place in a fictional unspecified Balkan country. Many of the characters are extremely superstitious whereas others, like Natalia's grandfather, value science and logic over old wives' tales. This struggle adds a fantasy-like facet to the novel, and the reader is never quite sure what is real and what is myth. I think another reason why this novel is told from first person point of view is that it reinforces the Balkan tradition of storytelling, and how myth and reality are nearly inseparable to the point that the reader is never sure of how things actually happened. Thus, the novel appeals to the reader's imagination without coming across as unbelievable, and the ambiguity prompts interesting questions.

     I would try to better explain the plot of this book, but it's the type of novel that is most magical when you know very little going in, and simply are able to watch the plot unfold.

     All in all, I would highly, highly recommend this book. It takes a chapter or two to really get into it, but reading the entire book is most definitely worth your time. Téa Obreht's The Tiger's Wife is like a carefully woven quilt, where, if you look closely, the stitches may look incongruous and haphazard, but when you step back, the big picture is beautiful.