Téa Obreht was born in 1985 in the former Yugoslavia and spent her childhood in Cyprus and Egypt. At the age of 8, she drafted her first short story – about a goat – and decided to become a writer. She immigrated to the United States in 1997, studied creative writing at USC and earned her MFA from Cornell.

Obreht’s writing has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic and Harper’s and has been anthologized in “The Best American Short Stories” (2010) and “The Best American Nonrequired Reading” (2010). “The Tiger’s Wife” is her first novel. The New Yorker named her as one of the 20 best American fiction writers under 40, and the National Book Foundation included her in their list of 5 Under 35. Obreht lives in Ithaca, New York.

Biographical info from teaobreht.com and Obreht’s 2009 interview in The Atlantic.

About the Book

“The Tiger’s Wife” is a work of contemporary fiction rich with both history and legend, reality and myth. Natalia is a young physician in the former Yugoslavia, on her way to an orphanage to provide vaccinations to the children there, when she learns that her grandfather has died far from home. She becomes convinced that he spent his last days searching for “the deathless man,” a vagabond who claimed to be immortal. As she looks for answers, she uncovers an extraordinary World War II era story of a deaf-mute woman in her grandfather’s boyhood village who befriended a tiger escaped from a zoo.

Personal history, quest, myth, superstition and the aftermath of war combine to create a magical narrative.

Book synopsis adapted from Random House, Inc.

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Final 10 Selections

Other Suggested Titles

In the meantime, read more about our finalists!

The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht

Everything necessary to understand my grandfather lies between two stories: the story of the tiger’s wife, and the story of the deathless man. These stories run like secret rivers through all the other stories of his life — of my grandfather’s days in the army; his great love for my grandmother; the years he spent as a surgeon and a tyrant of the University. One, which I learned after his death, is the story of how my grandfather became a man; the other, which he told to me, is of how he became a child again.
—From “The Tiger’s Wife” by Téa Obreht.

In the war-torn Balkans, young physician Natalia searches for tales from her grandfather’s past in an attempt to understand his mysterious death far from home. She becomes convinced that he spent his last days searching for “the deathless man,” a vagabond who claimed to be immortal. As she looks for answers, she uncovers an extraordinary World War II era story of a deaf-mute woman in her grandfather’s boyhood village who befriended a tiger escaped from a zoo. Personal history, quest, myth, superstition and the aftermath of war combine to create a magical narrative.

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Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante

Something has happened. You can always tell. You come to and find wreckage: a smashed lamp, a devastated human face that shivers on the verge of being recognizable. Occasionally someone in a uniform: a paramedic, a nurse. A hand extended with a pill. Or poised to insert a needle.
—From “Turn of Mind” by Alice LaPlante

Jennifer White is a brilliant, retired surgeon who may have murdered her best friend. The ultimate unreliable narrator, Dr. White suffers from severe dementia, struggles with fractured memories of their relationship and wonders if she actually committed the crime. This literary thriller follows Dr. White’s poignant decline and the slow unfolding of a murder mystery while exploring the complexities of marriage, family and long-term friendship.

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Thank you to everyone who suggested books to be considered for the 2012 program. We invite you to take a look at the nominated titles we’ve previously highlighted to learn what others in the community are reading and discussing.

Our nominator writes, “These essays are exquisite, complex, crystalline and would prompt a variety of community conversations and invite a whole raft of possible facilitators.”

Many thanks to the more than 100 of you who nominated titles for our reading panel’s consideration. Our community’s involvement and support are what make this program great!

See all of the nominated titles we have highlighted for One Read 2012.

See other readers’ nominations for One Read 2012.

Our nominator recommends “Just Like Us” for One Read 2012 because “immigration – especially illegal immigration – is an important, timely issue in our country. This is the true story (with the names of the families changed) of four girls about to graduate from high school and how their legal status affected their lives.” Coming-of-age, social conditions for Mexican-Americans and the living conditions of undocumented workers are all topics ripe for discussion.

 See other readers’ nominations for One Read 2012.

Seiffert’s work of psychological fiction follows the relationship of Alice and Joseph, who fall in love but hesitate to grow too close to each other as each hides a dark secret. Joseph was involved in violence in Northern Ireland. Alice never met her father and is caring for her grandfather after her grandmother’s death, but her grandfather is hiding some secrets from his own past as a soldier in Kenya. Seiffert handles her characters with compassion and delicacy as she explores the scars left by military service.

See other readers’ nominations for One Read 2012.