This is a novel with several pieces--a picture of a Balkan country trying to recover from a war; the story of a young doctor's memories of her beloved grandfather and of the search to discover the manner of his death; and the telling of two legends, those of "the deathless man" and of "the tiger's wife." Miraculously, all of the pieces come together at the end to create an enchanting whole.
Several themes emerge in the telling of this tale: the strength of love, the nature of man's confrontation with death, the necessity of legend in dealing with the harshness of reality, the possibility that sometimes legend is real.
The writing is assured and natural. The novel is satisfying as a purely plot-driven narrative, but has underlying layers. Perhaps a few tangents were needlessly explored, but perhaps I just missed the connection. All this proficiency seems almost miraculous, because the author is a young women in only her mid-20s.
I am seeing a trend here of creative talent coming to the fore in young women everywhere: for example, Karen Russell in Swamplandia, Marisha Pessl in Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Jhumpa Lahiri in Interpreter of Maladies, Zadie Smith in White Teeth. What an encouraging development!
This novel is recommended.
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