She is a natural born storyteller

‘A genuinely exciting debut…a delightful work, as enchanting as it is surprising, and Obreht is a 

compelling new voice’ (The Sunday Times). Since winning the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011, Téa Obreht’s debut novel ‘The Tigers Wife’ has received a great amount of publicity and is continually praised by critics and readers alike.

The story starts out with a small extract before the ‘official’ first chapter begins. It is a retelling of a day out to the zoo, by our narrator, a young woman named Natalia. It is an interesting start to the story, as when you eventually do get to the first chapter, you notice that the day at the zoo is irrelevant. As we discover that Natalia is now a grown woman, not the 4 year old girl she once was. The extract seems like it is going to be another typical, heart-warming day of a child visiting the zoo with her grandfather. With Obreht’s description of the zoo being very child friendly, ‘…there is a popcorn cart, the umbrella stand, and a small kiosk with postcards and pictures…’ However when they are watching a keeper trying to feed a tiger, the tone changes. The tiger attempts to feast off the keepers arm, and does not let it go for some time. The contrast between the calm atmosphere beforehand shows the reader just how wrong they were of the story. Obreht tricks the reader into thinking something the story is not.

  

The official first chapter is much more informative, with Obreht telling the reader that Natalia is now a doctor, who visits orphanages after another war has destroyed the Balkans. Natalia is on her way to an orphanage, when she finds out from a phone call with her grandmother that her beloved grandfather has died whilst he was away from home. We soon find out the reason why Natalia is not in anyway surprised or upset, as she knew her grandfather was ill but he had sworn her to secrecy. Even though she was extremely close with her grandfather, Natalia doesn’t know where he was attempting to go when he died. With her grandmother being suspicious that she knows something, she refuses to go home and carries on with her journey. The road trip to the orphanage introduces a mysterious and exotic like atmosphere to the story. With Obreht describing every sense there is possible, the smells, the sights, the noises.

   

An opening chapter has to capture the reader’s imagination, and needs to make them think that they want to read on. Obreht successfully does this by creating mystery upon Natalia’s grandfather’s death. With our narrator not even knowing where her grandfather was going, it makes the reader want to know more. With Natalia reaching her orphanage destination by the end of the chapter and the introduction of the unknown people working in the fields behind the house, this tells the reader there are many more mysteries to be solved…