The Tiger's Wife; Tea Obreht

Title: The Tiger's Wife
Author: Tea Obreht
Publication Year: 2011
Publisher: Random House
Edition: ARC
Source: Amazon Vine
Date Completed: 3/1/2011
Setting: Balkans
Rating: 4/5 stars
Recommend: Yes

The Tiger's Wife is an unusual story. Set in the present day, somewhere in the Balkans, the story is part mystery, part mystical and steeped in superstition.  Natalia Stefanovi, is a young doctor, on a mission of mercy at an orphanage by the sea. She and a friend are busy treating sick children, as many as five to a bed, as well as vaccinating others who are seriously ill. Natalia learns that her beloved grandfather, a retired doctor himself,  had left home on a mysterious mission far from home, and had died alone in the town of Zdrekov. It was three days before family was notified, and no one knew what he was doing there when he died. Natalia was the only only who knew her grandfather had cancer, and she is determined to find out the truth about the last few days of her grandfather's life. Why did he tell his wife he was off to visit Natalia, and instead spent his last days at a run down locale no one had ever heard of?

While Natalia is trying to learn more, she recalls the times spent with her grandfather as a young girl, and the mysterious stories he shared with her. There is the "tiger" who escaped from a zoo during the war, and roamed the villages. The deaf-mute woman, said to be "the tiger's wife" who befriend the tiger, and the story of a deathless man named Gavo, who could predict the death of others, but refused to die himself.  Natalia also recalls the frequent trips to the zoo she would take with her grandfather, and the fact that he always carried a worn copy of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, from which he read to her.

Secrets, superstition, war, and death or, references to death are abundant throughout this novel. The story flowed well, as the reader was transported back and forth in time. While I was able to appreciate the descriptive and haunting writing, this was not a quick and easy read for me. However, in the end, I was still glad I decided to take the time to finish this one.