Ms. Hen reviews The Tiger's Wife

The Tiger’s Wife

Tea Obreht

Random House

2011

Ms. Hen picked up this novel at the Little Free Library in Downtown Crossing in Boston. She chose this because she liked the cover and the title. She had never heard of the book, but she understands it was well received when it came out, and it was a finalist for the National Book Award.

When Ms. Hen first started reading THE TIGER’S WIFE, she had the feeling that it was similar to THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING because it is about a doctor, and it has the same type of tone, and it takes place in a likewise setting. This novel, however, does not have that much more in common with that one.

This novel is about a young doctor, Natalia, in a country that is not named, but is supposed to be Bosnia. The country is recovering from war, and Natalia’s grandfather has just died. She is in a rural area vaccinating some orphans with her friend, and she goes to retrieve his things that were in his possession when he passed away suddenly in a remote area.

Natalia recounts the story of her relationship with her grandfather, and how they went to the zoo to look at the tigers, and also tell the story his life when he was young in the small town where he lived. A tiger appeared in the village one day, and frightened the people that lived there. One of the women was supposedly the tiger’s wife, because she fed him, and the people in the town thought that the tiger impregnated her.

This novel shows the superstitions of rural people, and how isolated they are from the rest of the world. Some people actually believed that the woman was married to the tiger, and the women of the town would gossip and most of the men listened and did not do much to help her.

This novel is told in layers. The stories of the different characters go back and back and at times, Ms. Hen almost lost track of who she was reading about. The people in the village, and how they got to be there, and even the story about the only gun, and how it arrived, spread around like honey on pieces of crusty bread, and never stopped, and at times left Ms. Hen breathless. This novel is an excellent example of how to write multi-layered stories, one on top of another, like a club sandwich with a tower of bread. Ms. Hen admires this writer because she does this so well; it kept Ms. Hen on her toes, and she took her time reading it, because she thinks that this novel is meant to be read slowly and ingested gently because there is so much to absorb.

There are some chickens and hens that appear in this novel, which always pleases Ms. Hen. Natalia is driving through the country with one of the monks when, “There was a henhouse which had apparently collapsed at least once in the last few years, and had been haphazardly assembled and propped up against the low stone wall…” The characters are in a run-down area ravaged by war, and they have to make do with what they have. Ms. Hen is glad that the hens are being protected during difficult times.

Ms. Hen loves finding novels that are new to her that she adores. This is one of those. There are a lot of animals and magic in this novel, which Ms. Hen enjoys. The story twists and turns until it left Ms. Hen’s head dizzy. Ms. Hen won’t think of tigers or wild animals the same again.