Tiikerin vaimo (urspr publ 2011; utgåvan 2012)

Set in an unnamed Balkan country this novel is a series of local legends related to the reader through the narrator, Natalia, a young doctor looking into the circumstances of her grandfather's death. The two main legends are that of "The Tiger's Wife" and "The Deathless Man", with several other local stories and characters that branch off from the grandfather's life. This novel is more of a set of interrelated short stories with the common themes of death and one's relation to people and places against the backdrop of war and it's effects. I enjoyed this book and the author's rich writing style, even though it does leave several unanswered questions at the end. ( )

I'm not entirely sure what went on here. I did love the writing and sense of place. I'd love to read more books about the Balkans. ( )

The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht I think is set in a landscape that may have been what we used to call Yugoslavia but then again it could have been any land that has seen civil war or it could be entirely mythical.
 
The war runs as a sub-plot to this novel which is really about something else. Like secrets, grief, duty, love, obligation and superstition.Incredibly well written with that sense of unreality that often accompanies accounts of wartime.
 
That kind of writing that doesn't quite explain everything so you have lots of gaps on which to hang the narrative instead. This gives the story a spacey back and forwards in time feel in that it deals with past and the present and the future all simultaneously.Brilliant, sad mystifying and rewarding. ( )

Full review

The Tiger’s Wife remains me of The Thirteenth Tale by Dina Satterfield. It has the format of a story within a story about someone that a person they admire. Their told about that person past being stranger than fiction.

The writing is beautiful. At times I find myself capture in the stories that are told. The one about the deathless man is my favorite.

The story does jump around a bit. One moment be reading about Natalia going the orphanages then a flashback about Natalia life growing up during the war and then a story of the Tiger’s wife.
All these story do connect together. From these stories a deep history of a side character will be told. Is this necessary? The author wants to give the reader a deep understanding of someone and it involves a deep connects for all these stories to weave together. ( )

While it was beautifully written it was far from riveting. I lost interest mid-way and found myself skimming through parts just to finish. ( )