The Tiger's Wife

BOOK: The Tiger’s Wife

AUTHOR: Téa Obreht

GRADE: A-

From the mouth of babes….

Generally, I harbor hostile feelings towards the act of attributing extra value to a novel on the basis of the author’s age. I feel it puts the emphasis more on publishing young, rather than publishing well. And while, The Tiger’s Wife has not rid me entirely of this belief; I must admit that Obreht’s grasp of the English language, her stunning prose and her ability to imbue every page with sheer beauty and intrigue are markedly superior to that of her peers. She out-writes at least 90% of those twice her age and leaves those in her age bracket in the dust. Put simply: Miss Obreht is a force to be reckoned with and I sincerely doubt this is the last we’ll hear from her; it would be a damn shame if it were.

Now that I’ve sufficiently waxed poetic over Obreht’s literary prowess, let’s move onto the meat of the novel!

At its core, The Tiger’s Wife is a young woman’s quest to uncover the mystery of her beloved grandfather’s death. But, like all great novels, it is also so much more. A lifetime of adoration began in childhood for Natalia; trekking weekly to the zoo with her grandfather to hear his wondrous tales of the woman who loved tigers so much she “almost became one herself.” Like all children, self centered in the extreme, Natalia believed he was referring to her and laughed at the implication. Little did she know she would spend the months after his death learning the incredibly sad tale of a woman who literally became betrothed to her tiger!

Eventually she, like all children do, became too cool for these walks with granddad and moved across the world in an effort to save children in third world countries; inadvertently living out the stories her grandfather told her as a youngster. Through this re-living of his tales, she is eventually able to unravel his mystery and grows deeper in her appreciation of the man whose life shaped hers in every conceivable way.

Moving and powerful; The Tiger’s Wife is a must read. I give you my word you won’t be able to put it down till the last word on the last page. Even then, I’d wager you’ll find yourself aching to relive the story again and again. Truly phenomenal.