What are the motifs in The Tiger's Wife: A Novel by Tea Obreht?

Truth and lies are recurring ideas. Many, if not most, of the characters and/or narrative lines in this novel manifest a complex relationship between truth, secrets and lies. There are several motifs, or repeated (visual / verbal) images, through which this relationship is explored. The first is in the concealing of truth in stories. In the story of the fire (Chapter 6), the story of the butcher (Chapter 7), and in the stories told about the grandfather (Epilogue), darker and/or more discomfiting truths are suppressed in order to give the story a more positive and/or more dramatic impact.