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| (Photo via Flickr - Field Museum Library) |
I like to imagine the ghost of the tiger prowling the mountain near Galina.
Why did the apothecary do what he did? Is there any ambiguity about his actions?
Was I imagining it or at some point did the stories intersect - was the deathless man the same man who successfully wooed the woman Luka intended to marry?
And so to the final third of The Tiger’s Wife – the story of Dariša the Bear, the unhappy end of the Tiger’s Wife herself, the heartbreaking reason why the people and children of Brejevina paint Bis the dog all the time. There’s an interesting generational difference between Natalia and her grandmother – Her grandmother accepts the prescribed rituals of mourning and carries them out in a matter of fact manner while Natalia offers to help the villagers complete a superstitious rite out of curiosity.
The parts I loved about this book were he stories that people tell themselves to understand and see the world - people need stories and superstitions is to make sense of death, conflict and war. There are snippets of information about the modern war, there are mentions of different factions and landmines, but for the most part descriptions are vague. This gives the conflict a hazy feeling, not out of place with the rest of the stories. This war is one of a series of wars in the region – Natalia’s grandfather has experienced several in his lifetime.
This book is a skilfully woven tapestry of folktales, family legends, and a compelling narrative that I’m going to be recommending to all my friends in the weeks to come.
Other books to read if you've enjoyed The Tiger's Wife:
Galore by Michael Crumey. An intricate and entertaing novel following two hundred years of a Newfoundland fishing village.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. Epic novel following the fortunes of a Chilean family from the turn of the twentieth century.
M2C Bookclub- Competition Time
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