CultureWatch Reviews:The Tiger's Wife and Henrietta Lacks

In This Issue:

The Tiger’s Wife is a knockout novel that portends great things ahead, for both Ms. Obreht, and for her readers. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, now in paperback, is both a cautionary tale and a call for justice. In 1951 no laws were broken when Henrietta Lacks’ tumor cells were passed on, but ethical issues were and are real and a just accounting has yet to occur.

THE TIGER’S WIFE
by Téa Obreht, © 2011
Published by Random House; Hardcover: 338 pp

Reviewed by Julia Sneden

Téa Obreht’s book is her first novel. Born in 1985 in Belgrade, Obreht came to live in America at the age of 12. At her current age of 26 or 27, her writing has already appeared in The New Yorker, the Atlantic, Harper’s, and the Guardian. Her work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories as well as The Best American Nonrequired Reading. The New Yorker put her on their list of the twenty best American fiction writers under 40, and she also made the National Book Foundation’s list of "5 Under 35."

This is an astounding record for one so young, never mind that we assume she is writing in her second language. The power and intricacy of The Tiger’s Wife mark the beginning of what, if she keeps writing, should become a distinguished literary career.

The Tiger’s Wife is set in the Balkans, in a country that is unnamed, in a time after the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, and shortly after the Dayton Negotiations and Peace Accords has put an uneasy end to sectarian and national violence. There are still dangers like landmines in the ground in rural areas, and crossing the border from one country to another is fraught with tension and red tape. The populace, having been fragmented by both religion and politics, is trying to adjust to the new order of their lives.

The polarization of political and religious views during the civil war led to an "us versus them" mentality that splintered a people who had, under "The Marshal" (one assumes this is Josip Broz Tito), considered themselves one nation. The author describes her generation of young adults during the war as nihilists whose attitude of "What the hell, we’re going to die anyway!" now has to be re-calibrated.

The story begins as reminiscence by Natalia, a young doctor, who relates her childhood visits to the zoo with her grandfather, also a doctor. Natalia and he often spend an afternoon at the zoo, lingering long at the tiger cage. The Grandfather always carries always a copy of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book in his breast pocket, and often reads it aloud to young Natalia.

We skip ahead a few years, and Natalia is herself now a doctor. She and her childhood friend, Zora (yet another doctor) are about to go on a mission of mercy, crossing the newly-defined border to administer vaccinations to children in an orphanage.

Her grandfather was born in the country to which they’re going, but, as a young man, had moved to the country where they now live. His speech at times still betrays the accent of his native territory, but he married within his chosen country, and has long been settled there.

During Natalia’s adolescence, the closeness she felt with her grandfather was stretched a bit, but as an adult, she and he again found a tight bond, partly through her career choice. At the time of this story, the grandfather has told her that he is suffering from a terminal disease (never named, but we imagine it is cancer of some kind), swearing her to secrecy because he wants to delay causing her grandmother distress.

Pages: 1 · 2 · 3

Culture and Arts, Health, Fitness and Style, Literature and Poetry, Health and Science, Issues, Legal, Senior Women Web, Articles, Book Reviews, Julia Sneden, Jill Norgren, Authors

CultureWatch Reviews:The Tiger's Wife and Henrietta Lacks

In This Issue:

More Articles