Why a Booktrail?
A spellbinding journey through the troubled history and colourful folklore of the Balkans…
A spellbinding journey through the troubled history and colourful folklore of the Balkans…
Natalia is on a quest: to discover the truth about her beloved grandfather. He has died far from home, in circumstances shrouded in mystery.
Recalling stories her grandfather told her as a child, Natalia suspects he may have died trying to unravel two mysteries. One was the fate of a tiger which escaped during German bombing raids in 1941; the other a man who claimed to be immortal. But, as Natalia learns, there are no simple truths or easy answers in this landscape echoing with myths but still scarred by war.
The Tiger’s Wife comes from one of the stories of a tiger who escaped from the zoo in Belgrade when the Germans bombed the city in 1941 and then took refuge in the mountains. People believed that the deaf and mute wife of the local butcher fed and cared for the tiger. There were also rumours that he was abusive to her, before he went missing…
Natalia is the protagonist in the book and it’s her wish to find out what happened to her grandfather which brings her to this region with its changing boundaries and borders. Myths and folk stories populate the landscape as the people cling on to their traditions and identites by storytelling
This is a great way to see the region evoked and colourfully illustrated in your minds eye.
Destination : Serbia, Belgrade Author/Guide: Tea Obreht
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