I wasn't sure what to expect of this book going in but what I discovered I really, really loved.

In the recent past, Natalia is a doctor in an unnamed Balkan country, still experiencing the aftermath of war. Her grandfather, with whom she was very close, has just passed away in an unknown small village. She is left to explore why he ended up in that village as well as the other mysteries of his life. But the book is largely not driven by that plot, though it is a framework that ties the book together. Instead, you are treated to different vignettes of life that are told almost like folktales of the people that her grandfather encountered both as a child and an adult. The Deathless Man, the Tiger's Wife, and other characters with equally fairy tale-esque names and traits occupy the majority of the narration.

I loved the alternation between the folklore of the past and its contrast with the more realistic, clinical present. As Natalia is working to uncover the mystery of her grandfather's death, she also grapples with larger theme like the contrast between life and death (naturally), reality and lore, and her own place in the world. Obreht gives you just enough of the story to work out what is going on in each section while keeping a lot of it unsaid, allowing you to draw your own conclusions about what is real and what is not. If you need to be hit over the head with a plotline, this is not a book for you.

Instead, it is a book for those who appreciate beautiful phrasing and storytelling, especially mixed with elements of folklore. I look forward to reading more from Obreht and hope that she continues with this same style (even as she moves on from this world, which she says is very self-contained in this book).

4 stars