The Tiger's Wife

More about the book

Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Téa Obreht has crafted a timeless novel that showcases her as a vibrant, original author of her generation. In a Balkan country healing from conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives at a seaside orphanage on a mission of mercy. As she and her lifelong friend Zóra begin to inoculate the children, age-old superstitions and secrets emerge around them, including those of the cheerful hosts and a strange family digging in the vineyards. Simultaneously, Natalia grapples with a personal mystery: the inexplicable circumstances of her beloved grandfather’s recent death. After telling her grandmother he was headed to meet Natalia, he instead traveled to an unfamiliar settlement and died alone. A renowned physician, he must have known he was too ill to travel, leaving Natalia to unravel the riddle of his departure. Grieving and searching for clues, she reflects on the stories he shared during her childhood, including tales of a “deathless man” and a haunting winter in his village during WWII, where a tiger lurked in the shadows. Ultimately, Natalia discovers that these narratives run like secret rivers through her grandfather’s life, leading her to the answers she seeks.