The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I admired the quality of writing throughout this book. I loved much of the story told. My favorite thread was The Deathless Man. I kind of forgot about the thread about Natalia (the main character) and how she was a doctor looking for her grandfather’s clothes, so that one wasn’t very memorable.
Overall, I do wish that I would have gotten to know the character’s a bit more. I think I just like to know who is telling the story and why we need to care about the main characters. There were a few parts that went into far too much mundane detail (toward the end with the apothecary). Once I took a breath and read for the quality of writing I was fine. I felt like one of the family members sitting around on a porch listening to stories about different people we knew. I loved that about the book. I could imagine my grandmother telling me about her sister’s hair dresser etc. and how one time there was a tiger who crept into the salon etc. I enjoyed that meandering storytelling because of the way I’ve been told my own family stories. I thought that was a beautiful and delicate touch that wasn’t too heavy handed.
In the end, I was a little confused. I was wondering about the actual ending and how that fit into the overall story. I felt like it wasn’t quite there, but I liked what it was trying to do (which I’m not 100% sure I got). I was trying to connect it to the overall story and it left me a little baffled. I felt like the story of the Deathless Man was a little stronger than the Tiger’s Wife part (or maybe I just liked it better) so I wondered why the book was called this. To me, it didn’t give the book any extra meaning, which isn’t necessary, but I think I wanted a little more.
I think this is a talented writer and I’m waiting to see what her next book will be like.