Book Review: The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kaufman and illustrated by Tom Percival

Book Review: The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kaufman and illustrated by Tom Percival

Quote: The robbery was not without consequences. The consequences were the point of the robbery. It was never about money. The thief didn't even ask for any. That it happened in a bank was incidental.

Can we take a moment and appreciate the cover! The only reason I picked this book from my friend Ashwin's bookshelf; the cover and the adorable illustrations inside.

The Tiny Wife is a modern-day fable, it definitely is a weird and witty book! A perfect short distance read. It's the story of Stacey and David, Stacey gets robbed in a bank, where this flamboyant purple hatter robs an item of sentimental value from victims.

David, Stacey's husband narrates the story, a smart narrative choice: a spectator and commentator. Each of the victims has their own 'shit' to deal with after the incident. Dawn's lion tattoo springs into life! Grace's husband turns into a snowman. George's baby shits out money! Bishop's mother splits into 98 mini mothers.

Through the eyes and ears of David, we learn how each victim deals with their problems. The solution to each problem is either funny or weird or sad or just confusing. Stacey is physically shrinking; millimetre by millimetre, while her relationship with David is also widening. We can feel David is being the quintessential jerk husband, but as he narrates the story and measures Stacey he too realises that he is equally to be blamed for the growing distance. But both are helpless and have absolutely no clue how to save Stacey from vanishing.

I found the core of the fantasy style in Kauffman's writing very much similar to that of Ken Liu's. The language is entirely different, but the effect of words are not. Kauffman took the ambitious style of multilayered tales within a tale format and craftily compressed it into a novella. We don't have to understand each story, we just have to let the tales be.

I don't know what to make of Jenna's story. It was funny and sad! Someone explain to me Timothy Blaker's story, I understood some part of it. But I really loved the delicate balance between the said and the unsaid, on which this story was established. So many things are left unexplained, there is a lesson behind each story, but it's not a necessity that those lessons make any sense.

Anyone looking for a book that tampers with boundaries of magical realism and fantasy; this is your answer. I really enjoyed this book.