Reviews
Praise for Téa Obreht and The Tiger's Wife WINNER OF THE ORANGE PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD "Téa Obreht is the most thrilling literary discovery in years." --Colum McCann "Stunning . . . a richly textured and searing novel." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "Spectacular . . . [Obreht] spins a tale of such marvel and magic in a literary voice so enchanting that the mesmerized reader wants her never to stop. [Grade:] A" -- Entertainment Weekly "[Obreht] has a talent for subtle plotting that eludes most writers twice her age, and her descriptive powers suggest a kind of channeled genius. . . . No novel [this year] has been more satisfying." -- The Wall Street Journal "Filled with astonishing immediacy and presence, fleshed out with detail that seems firsthand, The Tiger's Wife is all the more remarkable for being the product not of observation but of imagination." -- The New York Times Book Review "A tremendously talented writer." --Ann Patchett "So rich with themes of love, legends and mortality that every novel that comes after it this year is in peril of falling short in comparison with its uncanny beauty." -- Time "That The Tiger's Wife never slips entirely into magical realism is part of its magic. . . . Its graceful commingling of contemporary realism and village legend seems even more absorbing." -- The Washington Post "Mesmerizing . . . Obreht's striking ability to explain the world through stories is matched by her patience with the parts of life--and death--that endlessly confound us." -- The Boston Globe, "Obreht brings her extraordinarily intricate worldview, psychological and social acuity, descriptive artistry, and shrewd, witty, and zestful storytelling to another provocative inquiry into the mysteries of place, nature, and human complexities. . . . Obreht inventively and scathingly dramatizes the delirium of the West--its myths, hardships, greed, racism, sexism, and violence--in a tornadic novel of stoicism, anguish, and wonder." -- Booklist (starred review) "A bracingly epic and imaginatively mythic journey across the American West in 1893, in which the lives of a former outlaw and a frontierswoman collide and intertwine." -- Entertainment Weekly
Synopsis
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The bestselling author of The Tiger's Wife returns with "a bracingly epic and imaginatively mythic journey across the American West" ( Entertainment Weekly ). NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time - The Washington Post - Entertainment Weekly - Esquire - Real Simple - Good Housekeeping - Town & Country - The New York Public Library - Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal - BookPage In the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives unfold. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life--her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home. Meanwhile, Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. The way in which Lurie's death-defying trek at last intersects with Nora's plight is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel. Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of T a Obreht's talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely--and unforgettably--her own. Praise for Inland "As it should be, the landscape of the West itself is a character, thrillingly rendered throughout. . . . Here, Obreht's simple but rich prose captures and luxuriates in the West's beauty and sudden menace. Remarkable in a novel with such a sprawling cast, Obreht also has a poetic touch for writing intricate and precise character descriptions." -- The New York Times Book Review (Editors ' Choice) "Beautifully wrought." -- Vanity Fair "Obreht is the kind of writer who can forever change the way you think about a thing, just through her powers of description. . . . Inland is an ambitious and beautiful work about many things: immigration, the afterlife, responsibility, guilt, marriage, parenthood, revenge, all the roads and waterways that led to America. Miraculously, it's also a page-turner and a mystery, as well as a love letter to a camel, and, like a camel, improbable and splendid, something to happily puzzle over at first and take your breath away at the end." --Elizabeth McCracken, O: The Oprah Magazine, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The bestselling author of The Tiger's Wife returns with "a bracingly epic and imaginatively mythic journey across the American West" ( Entertainment Weekly ). NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time * The Washington Post * Entertainment Weekly * Esquire * Real Simple * Good Housekeeping * Town & Country * The New York Public Library * Kirkus Reviews * Library Journal * BookPage In the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives unfold. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life--her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home. Meanwhile, Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. The way in which Lurie's death-defying trek at last intersects with Nora's plight is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel. Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of Téa Obreht's talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely--and unforgettably--her own. Praise for Inland "As it should be, the landscape of the West itself is a character, thrillingly rendered throughout. . . . Here, Obreht's simple but rich prose captures and luxuriates in the West's beauty and sudden menace. Remarkable in a novel with such a sprawling cast, Obreht also has a poetic touch for writing intricate and precise character descriptions." -- The New York Times Book Review (Editors ' Choice) "Beautifully wrought." -- Vanity Fair "Obreht is the kind of writer who can forever change the way you think about a thing, just through her powers of description. . . . Inland is an ambitious and beautiful work about many things: immigration, the afterlife, responsibility, guilt, marriage, parenthood, revenge, all the roads and waterways that led to America. Miraculously, it's also a page-turner and a mystery, as well as a love letter to a camel, and, like a camel, improbable and splendid, something to happily puzzle over at first and take your breath away at the end." --Elizabeth McCracken, O: The Oprah Magazine, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The bestselling author of The Tiger's Wife returns with "a bracingly epic and imaginatively mythic journey across the American West" ( Entertainment Weekly ). NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time - The Washington Post - Esquire - Good Housekeeping - The New York Public Library - The Dallas Morning News - Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal - BookPage In the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives unfold. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life--her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home. Meanwhile, Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. The way in which Lurie's death-defying trek at last intersects with Nora's plight is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel. Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of T a Obreht's talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely--and unforgettably--her own. Praise for Inland "As it should be, the landscape of the West itself is a character, thrillingly rendered throughout. . . . Here, Obreht's simple but rich prose captures and luxuriates in the West's beauty and sudden menace. Remarkable in a novel with such a sprawling cast, Obreht also has a poetic touch for writing intricate and precise character descriptions." -- The New York Times Book Review (Editors ' Choice) "Beautifully wrought." -- Vanity Fair "Obreht is the kind of writer who can forever change the way you think about a thing, just through her powers of description. . . . Inland is an ambitious and beautiful work about many things: immigration, the afterlife, responsibility, guilt, marriage, parenthood, revenge, all the roads and waterways that led to America. Miraculously, it's also a page-turner and a mystery, as well as a love letter to a camel, and, like a camel, improbable and splendid, something to happily puzzle over at first and take your breath away at the end." --Elizabeth McCracken, O: The Oprah Magazine
