M2C Online BookClub – The Tiger’s Wife (Part 2)

I found myself galloping through the middle section of this book (chapters 4 – 8), and then having to go back and make sure I hadn’t missed anything. The account of Natalia’s Grandfather’s childhood of the tiger’s journey to his home village of Galina is interwoven with Natalia’s and Zora’s present day mission to the orphanage in Brejevina. Once again the stories are told in chunks that leave you wanting more. Just as one narrative strand ends and another begins – a clever device that kept me reading late into the night, eager to catch up. 



(Photo via Flickr - Smithsonian Institute)



The story of the tiger’s wife is told vividly – the harshness and rigours of early 20th century village life (from the chronology of the book it could be 1920s/1030s?) is startling at times the fever that sweeps through the village in winter and kills all the children under twelve bar one, for example. The treasured copy of The Jungle Book that’s mentioned at the start of the story makes an appearance, a gift from the kindly village apothecary.

Ahhh……stories within stories!

One of my favourite things.

In reading the story of the tiger’s wife we also get the history of the Ottoman musket, the tale of the initial disastrous hunt for the tiger and the Grandfather’s early history until we come to how Luka the village butcher came to marry his child bride and why the villagers started calling her the tiger’s wife.

There are interesting parallels between each story strand – the village of the tiger’s wife appears untouched by modern life and superstition is a way of life but in the present day Natalia and Zora also encounter stubborn beliefs in the family who dig relentlessly in their host’s orchard. Natalia is desperate to inoculate the sick children in the family, but the parents put their faith in the ritual they’ve been advised to carry out and the pouches of herbs they wear around their neck. And a minor mystery as to why the orphanage children paint images of the dog Bis over and over again – they seem to have a talismanic property.

The war is over but casts a long shadow - Natalia makes a trip to the clinic where her grandfather died, hoping to collect his belongings there is palpable tension when she makes inquiries – hostile locals ask her if she comes from ‘the other side’. She remembers a trip with her Grandfather when the ceasefire was declared to the family holiday house across at a lake across the border and the uncertainty of the reception they would get from formerly friendly neighbours. The shifting loyalty that consecutive wars have created is a running theme. The story of the deathless man is taken up again but I didn’t find this second instalment as compelling as the first. For me I just want to find out what happened to the tiger’s wife.

If you’re enjoying the book so far you may also like to read:

‘Ali and Nino’ by Kurban Said. Set in Azerbaijan at the start of the twentieth century, Ali is Muslim and Nino is Christian but they are childhood sweethearts and are determined to marry. A moving love story told against the turbulent backdrop of the First World War and an interesting exploration of conflicting cultures.

‘The Crane Wife’ by Patrick Ness. A romantic and magical novel based on a Japanese folktale.

M2C Bookclub- Competition Time