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    The Tiger's Wife: A Novel
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    The Tiger's Wife: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Tiger's Wife: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Tiger's Wife: A Novel

    Written by Téa Obreht 

    Narrated by Susan Duerden and Robin Sachs

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Wall Street Journal • O: The Oprah Magazine • The Economist • Vogue • Slate • Chicago Tribune • The Seattle Times • Dayton Daily News • Publishers Weekly • Alan Cheuse, NPR's All Things Considered

    SELECTED ONE OF THE TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times • Entertainment Weekly • The Christian Science Monitor • The Kansas City Star • Library Journal

    Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Téa Obreht, the youngest of The New Yorker's twenty best American fiction writers under forty, has spun a timeless novel that will establish her as one of the most vibrant, original authors of her generation.

    In a Balkan country mending from years of conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of mercy at an orphanage by the sea. By the time she and her lifelong friend Zóra begin to inoculate the children there, she feels age-old superstitions and secrets gathering everywhere around her. Secrets her outwardly cheerful hosts have chosen not to tell her. Secrets involving the strange family digging for something in the surrounding vineyards. Secrets hidden in the landscape itself.

    But Natalia is also confronting a private, hurtful mystery of her own: the inexplicable circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather's recent death. After telling her grandmother that he was on his way to meet Natalia, he instead set off for a ramshackle settlement none of their family had ever heard of and died there alone. A famed physician, her grandfather must have known that he was too ill to travel. Why he left home becomes a riddle Natalia is compelled to unravel.

    Grief struck and searching for clues to her grandfather's final state of mind, she turns to the stories he told her when she was a child. On their weeklytrips to the zoo he would read to her from a worn copy of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, which he carried with him everywhere; later, he told her stories of his own encounters over many years with "the deathless man," a vagabond who claimed to be immortal and appeared never to age. But the most extraordinary story of all is the one her grandfather never told her, the one Natalia must discover for herself. One winter during the Second World War, his childhood village was snowbound, cut off even from the encroaching German invaders but haunted by another, fierce presence: a tiger who comes ever closer under cover of darkness. "These stories," Natalia comes to understand, "run like secret rivers through all the other stories" of her grandfather's life. And it is ultimately within these rich, luminous narratives that she will find the answer she is looking for.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 8, 2011
    ISBN9780307877017
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The Tiger's Wife

    3.5/5

    1,727 ratings215 reviews

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    • 2/5
      This book didn't really appeal. Whilst I liked the writing style and the stories within the main story, especially the tiger's wife and the deathless man, at times the plot is confusing and extremely slow and heavy going. The book moves from the past to the present as the reader becomes involved with the grandfather's tales and learns about the relationship young Natalia had with her beloved grandfather. I really liked the grandfather, however I never engaged with Natalia herself and when she was narrating her story, I was wishing she would hurry up and finish so I could continue with her grandfather's story. I was glad to finally finish this book, and overall I would have to say it was a rather strange, unsatisfying read.
    • 4/5
      I found the section set in the now less enchanting than the magically real stories and myths woven around Natalia's grandfather and his history with the titular tiger's wife and her brother in law the deathless man. It was fascinating to see Eastern Europe with its wars and spirits being written about in ways that we usually associate with India, the Far East and South America. A more than competent debut. Waiting for a follow up.
    • 4/5
      Audio books succeed or fail depending on the talents of the narrator. Some books would be mediocre in print but given a vivid reading they rise to a higher level. Likewise, I am sometimes aware as I listen to a book that I would enjoy it more if I read it myself. The best of both worlds is to find a wonderful book given a great interpretation by a strong narrator. That is the case with The Tiger's Wife. Even better, a female narrator reads most of the book while a male voice takes over to tell the grandfather's stories. I'm sure I would have liked the print version however in this case the audio enhanced my enjoyment of the story.
    • 2/5
      While many rave reviews, I just could not get into this story. The writing was a little too exuberant and at times came across as a bit weighty and while all books have flaws, I could not get past some of the extraneous verbiage and the oft meandering plot.
    • 3/5
      I liked this book. I did have a hard time getting through it at some parts. I thought it moved kind of slow. I found that if I didn't read it for a while, I would have to go back and remind myself of who some of the characters were and how they fit into the story. I did like the themes in the book.
    • 3/5
      I had hoped to be excited by this book and ended up mostly ambivalent. The story (and my attention) wandered too often, I never really connected with the characters, and my only real reaction upon finishing was "Huh. Well, that's done with". I can't point to a particular thing that didn't work for me, but I can't pick out many things that did either. The prose is well-written but overall I can't call this a great book.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful, multi-layered story.
    • 3/5
      Probably if I had known that this book had a magical realism theme I would not have downloaded it. I am not a big fan of magical realism although I know others are. The unreality of the story takes over and obscures some of the fine writing.Natalia is a doctor, following in the footsteps of her beloved grandfather. She lives with her mother, grandmother and grandfather in a city somewhere in the Balkans. She was a teenager when the civil war took place and now that it is over she is going to a town on the other side of the border to treat orphans. On the journey there she learns that her grandfather set out from home ostensibly to meet her but that he died. Natalia had known he was ill but she and her grandfather kept that knowledge from her mother and grandmother. Her grandmother is very upset that her husband died away from home and that it takes some days for his body to be sent back. When it gets there his belongings are not with him so Natalia must go to the village where he died. As she drives she thinks about the stories her grandfather used to tell her. His stories about the deathless man who was a man that could not die but could foretell the deaths of others are much on her mind. Although she always thought that the deathless man was a myth when she retrieves her grandfather's belongings she thinks they might be true. Back at the orphanage she is faced with another mythical situation and, despite her scientific training, she starts to believe that these myths may be based on facts. Finally the story of the tiger's wife that she discovers when she goes to the village that her grandfather was born in is something she comes to believe.This is a first novel so some of the issues I have with it might be due to those defects that are so common in first novels. There is just too much detail for the reader to take in or at least for this reader.
    • 4/5
      "These stories run like secret rivers through all the other stories of (my grandfather's) life"Probably a *3.5 for this highly unusual, well-written and ambitious first novel, in which the author gives us two stories in alternate chapters.In one, set in the modern day, narrator Natalia, a young doctor, tells of her posting to a village orphanage. She recalls the Yugoslav wars of her childhood, and her beloved grandfather, who has just died.In the other thread, she relates stories her grandfather told her: his several meetings with the "deathless man" ; and his memories of a deaf-mute woman, beaten by her husband, but castigated by the villagers as "the tiger's wife" for apparently helping an escaped zoo animal...This is a very symbolic work, requiring focus and which would benefit from a second reading. I appreciated the writing quality but nevertheless was glad to reach the end!
    • 1/5
      I don't get this book. I'm not much for symbolism, so if the entire message of this book is cloaked in symbolism, then that's why I don't get it. Nothing makes sense. Some parts of the stories held my interest, but the long descriptions of people's life who seem to hold no importance to the overall story frustrated and bored me.

      And I have a question...

      Is the woman Luka wanted to marry the same woman the deathless man ran off with and married?

      I skipped or skimmed much of the long descriptions and at the end, I had no idea what the actual conflict of the story was and if anything was resolved.

      Would anyone like to explain the purpose of the story to me? Please enlighten me.
    • 3/5
      This is the typical 3 stars for me: I didn't dislike it, I didn't love it, I may or may not read more by this author.

      This is the type of book that I lump together with Life of Pi, Cutting for Stone and others which are driven by character more than action or forward-moving story. There is a definite story here, but it is more about the progression of character development. The storyline moves back and forth in time and character perspective, but the rhythm is easy to follow and soon the back story merges with the current one. There was much symbolism here, much more than I understood. War, death, immortality, murder, fear. It was a very good book, but not my favorite type of writing. I may give it another read in a few years.
    • 3/5
      I wanted to like this one but it was too wordy, too steeped in folklore for me to really understand the point of the story. Why the tiger? I have no idea. The main plot centered around a granddaughter getting to understand her grandfather, but I felt the main secondary character was death. And I think the author wanted it to be the tiger. But I just couldn't make myself understand the role of the tiger in the narrative.
    • 4/5
      Parts of this book were difficult to read, but it was well written. Because I know so little about this war torn area, it is hard to imagine, but Obreht does a wonderful job in bringing it to reality.
    • 2/5
      While many rave reviews, I just could not get into this story. The writing was a little too exuberant and at times came across as a bit weighty and while all books have flaws, I could not get past some of the extraneous verbiage and the oft meandering plot.
    • 2/5
      I'm not quite sure how a book which was written so beautifully did not engage me more. I feel totally unconnected with the experience of having read it. I wonder if I would have been more caught up with the story if I'd read a paper version rather than a Kindle version. It just didn't catch me, and for no good reason, really. Color me confused.
    • 4/5
      An engrossing read - some of the writing is beautiful in this story set in the Balkans. I'm not usually a fan of magical realism but Tea Obreht writes wonderfully well. However, I would have liked more of the modern day story (set at the end of the Balkans' war) and found my attention waning when it came to lengthy sections involving incidental characters in her grandfather's tale.
    • 3/5
      This is basically three nonlinear tales in one, revolving around a young doctor named Natalia, her grandfather, and the young woman with the eponymous nickname. In the course of trying to find out more about the final days of her grandfather's life, Natalia does some investigating in various areas of the Balkans setting of this one. And in the process, she gets drawn deeper and deeper into the local folklore that had also reached out and grabbed hold of her grandfather. This one had a lot of promise, but it fell short and read like a novella that has been padded to reach novel length. I'm all for character backstory if it's relevant to the main story, but this book just has too many backstories--and quite lengthy and boring ones--for too many minor characters that really didn't matter enough to deserve so much attention. And it is this backstory that creates the sense of padding. In the end, the rational explanation for one of the story's folklore-ish aspects is the most satisfying resolution of them all, and reminded me of the mystery surrounding the person who showed up for years to put flowers at the grave of Edgar Allen Poe. In short, not a bad first outing, but one whose pacing suffers quite a bit from the inclusion of so much filler.
    • 3/5
      A little slow at the start, but I soon found I couldn't put it down.
    • 3/5
      Audiobook. An ambitious book. Narrative back and forth over time in the time of the civil war in the balkans during late 80s and 90s. A young girl. The story of her grandfather. I did not patiently listen to this book. So I was left with a sense of some pretension. But not sure that's fair. I would recommend the book. And I will try to read more of it to decide whether the language and details of the narrative are worth the effort of this book.
    • 3/5
      So, she's very talented, this Tea Obreht person. Very elegant, spare, mature style that I appreciate. That said, this book was just not for me. I tried and I tried for about 100 pages, but I just couldn't get into the story. For me, character and emotion are everything, and I couldn't get a handle on either. I think her characters were purposely lacking emotion, as they supposed to be in a kind of shell-shocked mental state following years of unrest and civil war in their Balkan country. But I found that days passed and I hadn't really picked up the book, so it was a sign for me to move on...
    • 4/5
      I'm always interested in why books are named as they are-- the Tiger's wife is only one character whose backstory is elaborated here. Lives that start badly are explained, which should give you sympathy for the choices made later.
    • 5/5
      Simply gorgeous. Sentences like jade miniatures on an elaborated filigree of pure silver. This is a supremely, extraordinarily talented woman; and the prologue to this novel is as well-crafted as any short story I've ever read. I'm envious, I'm infatuated, I've been transported.

    • 5/5
      This was an enchanting novel set in what seems like Yugoslavia and between and during wars. I found everything about this novel enjoyable, so much so that I've let this book take much longer to read than usual. I simply did not want this novel to end. Obreht's writing is narrative heavy and feels like a campfire tale in some ways. I thoroughly enjoyed the bits about the deathless man and the epic nature of the "tiger's wife." I highly recommend this literary novel which will keep you putting it down only to savor the story for one more day.
    • 5/5
      There is a mesmerizing quality to the storytelling in this novel, as if you were witnessing first hand the creation of new fairy tales, or myths. I don't know if these tales are new to me because I am not familiar with Slavic folklore. The series of episodes in the book alternate between long ago and the recent past of the war torn Balkan states. The narrator, like the subject of the story, her grandfather, is a doctor, on a mission to help orphans get inoculated. In the process, she recounts stories told to her by her grandfather of the deathless man and the tiger's wife. I love the talismanic nature of The Jungle Book that features throughout the tales. What an impressive debut by Tea Obreht.
    • 2/5
      The story is set in Yugoslavia and explores a young doctor called Natalia. Natalia is seeking to discover the truth of her grandfather's death which occurs whilst she is on a mission to deliver medical supplies to a desperate orphanage in the Balkans which have been ravaged by war.The myths and folklore of the region; a tiger who escapes from captivity after the second world war bombings of Belgrade and settles in a remote mountain village near to where Natalia's grandfather is growing up. The tiger develops a relationship with a deaf mute girl who becomes known as the tiger's wife.The heart of the myths are people trying to understand a sense of death; coupled with war and the conflict it brings. The myths survive whilst the ownership of the land and in some cases the people do not. This comes across almost as defiant in a way. This is further emphasised with the cultural mix and is shown through the story of the tiger who is a Muslim living in a Christian village, which for me re-enforced the defiance aspect.There is a real sense of love between Natalia and her grandfather; and the tattered copy of The Jungle Book humanises the storyline rather than become a politically aggrieved novel. The scene with the character referred to at "The Hat" seemed almost reminiscent of the KGB or various officials of the Soviet regime, and this was further illustrated with the Grandfather, in his role as a doctor forbidden under the regime to see certain patients with regular medical conditions.This was an interesting structure of a novel for a first book by the author and the the story does seem to drift in places. I found that some of the stories of the myths rambling. Overall I found the language was too flowery and there was a real sense of deepness, almost over deep and coupled with complex metaphors I found it too much. In fact, by the time I got to the end I wondered what I missed of the storyline?My immediate thoughts as I read the book, certainly by page 50 was, had the author tried to create a book of similar vein to Animal Farm by George Orwell? If that was the case, the author has not pulled it off for me.
    • 2/5
      Sometimes the book doesn't live up to all the hype and great reviews. I found this to be the case with Tea Obreht's first novel. I think she is a talented storyteller, but the stories didn't all tie together well. I thought the book started slow and really took until nearly the half way mark to get engaged in the story she was trying to tell. While it was interesting in places, it also felt disjointed to me. At this point I don't know if I will opt to read her second book.
    • 4/5
      This was a very interesting book woven with superstition, a little fantasy and the story of two lives. There are several storylines that cross and recross throughout the story. It is intriguing and well written.
    • 4/5
      Quite simply, this is a poignant, beautifully written book.
    • 5/5
      I was skeptical about this book because it had been so overhyped. But I loved it. I thought it was really original with a unique voice. I liked Obreht's style quite a bit. And there's enough here to give you something to think about after you turn the last page. I think it is probably worth a reread at some point.
    • 2/5
      Didn't live up to the hype for me. In fact, as I was listening to it in my car I kept wondering how long it would take to get to the end. The story follows a family in the Balkans. The daughter, Natalia is medic who learns about the sudden mysterious death of her grandfather--who died alone and in a city the family never knew him to visit. As she goes to pick up his things she tries to make sense of his life and death--by recalling childhood memories and stories that he told her about the "deathless man". This eventually leads her to the story of the Tiger's wife, which took place in the village where her grandfather grew up. The stories, while they could be fascinating, were told in a style that didn't hold my interest and the overall story seemed disjointed. I couldn't quite understand what the point of it all was. This book garnered a lot of praise from reviewers and critics, if you enjoy a book with a lot of flowery language and deep metaphors and symbolism you might want to give it a try. Otherwise I wouldn't recommend it.