Tiger Lillie

By: Lisa Samson

Narrated by: Barbara McCulloh

Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Lillie Bauer, co-owner of a Baltimore wedding-planning business, is looking for romance. When she finally finds her own true love, her new outlook sheds light on her sister Tacy's increasingly destructive relationship with her deeply fundamentalist husband.

Christy Award-winning author Lisa Samson is famous for her offbeat characters and willingness to push the boundaries of Christian fiction.

©2004 Lisa Samson (P)2006 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"This is a breakthrough novel for the award-winning Samson, whose exuberant prose, zany characters and willingness to tinker with some cherished boundaries of Christian fiction make this story memorable." (Publishers Weekly)

Highly recommend

I loved this book! I didn't know much about it. I'd purchased it because I like the author, and it had been in my library for a while. But I had to make a long drive and chose it to drive by. I was quickly completely absorbed. It was a little confusing the first time she switched character POV, but that's somewhat expected when listening to a book. There are just certain things that don't translate well from the visual of reading a book to the listening of a book. But the slight confusion didn't last long as I realized the story is being told by two characters. By the way, the narrator was phenomenal! I love both the author and the narrator!

Edgy for a “Christian” Novel

As a Christian , a writer, and a “Strong Hungarian Woman,” I related to this story. Overall, I enjoyed it. But the narrator was not so great. I liked that it challenged the Christian Women’s fiction stereotypes and included many types of Christians of various theological viewpoints.

Not as expected

From the publisher's description, "Tiger Lillie" sounds like a promising romantic comedy, but it is not. Rather, it is a disjointed narrative account of one rather light-hearted sister and her zany companions contrasted against the narrative of the younger sister caught in an abusive relationship.

The author contrasts the girls' father, a humble Episcopalian priest, against the younger sister's husband who is caught in a cultish church that stresses the right of the husband to rule the household.

The plot is tangled and hard for the reader to discern easily and leaves one wondering what happened as the author brings the story to an abrupt end.

Wow!!! Think I'll listen all over again!

So very interesting and entertaining! Awesome characters! What a great book! Didn't want this one to end.

Pushing boundaries

Would you listen to Tiger Lillie again? Why?

I read this book several years ago, and for the most part enjoyed it. I am working my way through Samson's audio backlist, and while this is not her best work (Songbird is quite possibly my favorite) it is quirky and fun enough that I would likely reread it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like Lily and Christoph, for sure. I found Gordon too good to be true, and Rollins too evil to be believable, but the humor in this book carries it through

Did Barbara McCulloh do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

No! This is probably her weakest point as a narrator - her character differentiation. Beyond that, she embodies Lillie nicely. I wish another narrator had been chosen for Tacey's parts, because it was quite jarring to switch POV.

Who was the most memorable character of Tiger Lillie and why?

Christoph. To have a celibate gay character at home with himself and his relationship with Jesus was refreshing and beautiful.

Any additional comments?

I would give this book 3.5 stars, partially due to the narration, partially due to some of the over-the-topness of it all... but Samson is a gifted writer, keen to push boundaries in all the right ways and all the right places.

Too confusing....

What would have made Tiger Lillie better?

I could NOT get into this story. I started it over probably 10 times. The narrators voice is kinda annoying. Never finished.

Thoroughly Terrible

I did not care for anything about this audiobook. Not the story, not the narration, not a thing. Sorry.

Awful perspective

There are sparkling moments, but it’s a smug closeted, un-selfaware world. As a biologist from Europe I was shocked at the appalling disregard for evolutionary science. Random digs were taken at science for no reason at all. Evolution and a belief in God are not remotely mutually exclusive but the writer clearly doesn’t understand that concept. The main character is extremely close minded and unquestioning while judging another character for those traits.