“My grandfather never refers to the tiger’s wife by name. . .my grandfather might say, ‘I once knew a girl who loved tigers so much she almost became one herself.’ Because I am little, and my love of tigers comes directly from him, I believe he is talking about me, offering me a fairy tale in which I can imagine myself—and I will, for years, and years.” 

Though Natalia does not learn the story of the tiger’s wife directly from her grandfather, she is familiar with the idea of the tiger’s wife through her grandfather’s love of the zoo’s tiger, his transmission of that love to her, and the idea that he actually knew a girl who loved tigers. She only learns about the tiger’s wife after his death, when she searches for the missing pieces of her grandfather’s life.

“Wash the bones, bring the body, leave the heart behind.” 

The first time this saying appears, the Ivans’ parrot says it. Soon, Natalia learns that this phrase relates to the diggers, who are searching for the body of a family member buried in the vineyard during the war. Duré believes that his family is sick because he buried his cousin’s body instead of bringing it home. The restless spirit curses his family. A soothsayer he hired to help him remove the curse gave him this advice.

“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 grate 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.”

Natalia begins retelling her grandfather’s life. In speaking his truth, she processes and comes to accept the shock and pain of his death. Through understanding his stories, Natalia reunites with her grandfather once more.