The Tiger's Wife

This book is basically loosely (very loosely) connected by three separate tales–the modern day protagonist dealing with her grandfather's death, the tale of the Tiger's Wife, and the tale of the Deathless Man. I found the Tiger's Wife bits very engaging, but the rest of the novel was very slow and I just couldn't quite get into it. I thought about giving up around the 100-page mark, but then the Tiger's Wife substory began in earnest, and I was intrigued and thought “things will pick up now.” They didn't. But kudos to Obreht (or her editor) for being clever enough to tease more bits every other chapter to keep me plodding through the rest of it. Ultimately I don't feel like my patience was rewarded. I'm left wondering what Obreht's main message really was. She's definitely a talented writer, and there were a few wow moments, but I never quite cared about any of the characters, aside from the Tiger. I'm a bit puzzled at all the critical acclaim this novel has received, but perhaps it falls into the Gabriel Garcia Marquez category for me–authors almost everyone in the world loves but me.