The Tiger's Wife

A Novel

By: Tea Obreht

Narrated by: Susan Duerden, Robin Sachs

Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Award Finalist and New York Times best seller...

“Spectacular...[Téa Obreht] spins a tale of such marvel and magic in a literary voice so enchanting that the mesmerized reader wants her never to stop.” (Entertainment Weekly)

Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Téa Obreht, the youngest of The New Yorker’s 20 best American fiction writers under 40, 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 war, Natalia, a young doctor, is compelled to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather’s recent death. Searching for clues, she turns to his worn copy of The Jungle Book and the stories he told her of his encounters over the years with “the deathless man.” But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told her - the legend of the tiger’s wife.

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.

“Stunning...a richly textured and searing novel.” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

“[Obreht] has a talent for subtle plotting that eludes most writers twice her age, and her descriptive powers suggest a kind of channeled genius.... No novel [this year] has been more satisfying.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“Filled with astonishing immediacy and presence, fleshed out with detail that seems firsthand, The Tiger’s Wife is all the more remarkable for being the product not of observation but of imagination.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“That The Tiger’s Wife never slips entirely into magical realism is part of its magic.... Its graceful commingling of contemporary realism and village legend seems even more absorbing.” (The Washington Post)

©2011 Tea Obreht (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Stunning...a richly textured and searing novel.” (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times)

“[Obreht] has a talent for subtle plotting that eludes most writers twice her age, and her descriptive powers suggest a kind of channeled genius.... No novel [this year] has been more satisfying.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“That The Tiger’s Wife never slips entirely into magical realism is part of its magic.... Its graceful commingling of contemporary realism and village legend seems even more absorbing.” (The Washington Post)

Good, Not Great

There are some really great moments in this book, but it never really comes together as a whole. Obreht spins interesting stories, but they should have been stand alone tales, not woven together into a singular narrative. There's no question in my mind that Tea Obreht has talent, but The Tiger's Wife felt like it was written by an, as of yet, immature author who hasn't quite come into her own. I am interested in seeing what Obreht will write next.

The narrator was adequate, but her voice often went into a sing-song cadence and, after the first hour or two of listening to the book, I grew tired of it.

Half fable half story with an amazing narrator

Very good book that reads like a fable but hooks you like a novel. The author's setting of a fictional Balkan country allows the storyline the freedom to develop without being bound by specifics. Excellent examination of what is reality and what is not and the blurry line that separates. The reader reads the very poetic text quickly which aids in its beauty and there are sections of the grandfather's story telling that are narrated by a second "grandfather" reader - very effective. Definitely recommend.

Loved in parts, other's seem to drag

What did you like best about The Tiger's Wife? What did you like least?

I still remember vivid parts and the story line but at times I just couldn't keep interest.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Mild

What does Susan Duerden and Robin Sachs bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Yes, I think so.

Was The Tiger's Wife worth the listening time?

Yes.

magical realism at its finest

I picked up this book long ago and, like the hundreds of others on my virtual nightstand (I am lucky enough to have a 5 shelf bookshelf next to my bed) languished for years. Then, Tea Obreht released a new novel to much acclaim in 2018, as it had been 7 years since Tiger's Wife. I thought that I should get on it and so I did, and boy, was I glad I did!

This book is lyrical, sensuous, piercing, hard and mystical. In a Balkan country mending from war, Natalia, a young doctor, chases knowledge about the mysterious circumstances of her beloved grandfather’s recent death. Searching for clues, she turns to his worn copy of The Jungle Book and the stories he told her of his encounters over the years with “the deathless man.” But most extraordinary of all is the story her grandfather never told her—the legend of the tiger’s wife.

The narration switches between Natalia and her grandfather, or at least, Natalia's recollection of her grandfather telling her stories. The mystic quality of his stories spins this fantastic tale of love and redemption. I was enthralled by this book and highly, highly recommend!

didn't want it to end.

A story that resonates on many levels, connecting images and memories of life, real and imagined

Unbelievably fantastic

She created a magical world. I was completely immersed in it. Amd more words and more

Amazing prose

This author can turn a phrase, and weave the multi dimensional storylines. A total Wowza! You will dream this book

A magical, engrossing tale of a torn country

The reader is transported back and forth in time and place between mysterious and wondrous tales of tigers, a deathless man, the tiger's wife, a bear hunter, a foreign apothecary, and a country torn apart by recurring wars. Peopled by both a sophisticated, liberal urban population and backwards, superstitious peasants, the former Yugoslavia is the home of diverse ethnic, religious groups, rich musical traditions, political unrest and the devastation of wars - from without and within. Told by a young woman doctor, granddaughter to a famous doctor who served his countrymen irrespective of the ethnic-religious divides, the reader is carried along an undulating journey into fact, fantasy, fear and love. At the end the reader wonders aloud - what is true and what is fiction? What is tale and what is history? And what will be the futures of the new nations that have emerged from the ashes that were?
And who was the tiger's wife?
An outstanding literary achievement brilliantly and engrossingly narrated.

Interesting Story

Recommended for the folk tale quality and good narration. the character development was well received the plot enjoyable.

unfortunate choice for narrators

You would think that it would make sense to get people who actually speak the language that the book features to narrate it, or maybe the non-native-speaking people reading the book would take the time to learn to pronounce some of the simplest words that the book features over and over again (Bako, specifically) and yet...