The prize-winning, bestselling author of Boy, Snow, Bird and What is Not Yours is Not Yours returns with a bewitching and inventive novel. Influenced by the mysterious place gingerbread holds in classic children's stories--equal parts wholesome and uncanny; from the tantalizing witch's house in "Hansel and Gretel" to the man-shaped confection who one day decides to run as fast as he can--beloved novelist Helen Oyeyemi invites readers into a delightful tale of a surprising family legacy, in which the inheritance is a recipe. Perdita Lee may appear your average British schoolgirl; Harriet Lee may seem just a working mother trying to penetrate the school social hierarchy; but there are signs that they might not be as normal as they think they are. For one thing, they share a gold-painted, seventh-floor walk-up apartment with some surprisingly verbal vegetation. And then there's the gingerbread they make. Londoners may find themselves able to take or leave it, but it's very popular in Druhástrana, the far away (or, according to many sources, non-existent) land of Harriet Lee's early youth. The world's truest lover of the Lee family gingerbread, however, is Harriet's charismatic childhood friend Gretel--a figure who seems to have had a hand in everything (good or bad) that has happened to Harriet since they met. Decades later, when teenaged Perdita sets out to find her mother's long lost friend, it prompts a new telling of Harriet's story. As the book follows the Lees through encounters with jealousy, ambition, family grudges, work, wealth, and real estate, gingerbread seems to be the one thing that reliably holds a constant value. Endlessly surprising and satisfying, written with Helen Oyeyemi's inimitable style and imagination, it is a true feast for the reader.

Gingerbread

Literature & Fiction

Helen Oyeyemi

Literary

Hamish Hamilton

White is for Witching

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Fantasy

Picador

Mr Fox Oyeyemi reveals a twinkling sense of humour . . . A delight

MR Fox

Romance

Picador USA

Peaces

Faber&Faber

Parasol Against the Axe

Collected Stories: Ben Rivers

MARINA WARNER

Lynne Tillman

Xiaolu Guo

Kevin Barry

Chloe Aridjis

Iain-Sinclair

M.John Harrison

Irene Solà

Gina Apostol

Daisy Hildyard

Vanessa Onwuemezi

Golan Haji

Nathalie Léger

Fireflies Press

A sensation among readers around the world, The Icarus Girl is the beautifully written story of eight-year-old Jessamy “Jess” Harrison. Sensitive, whimsical, possessed of a powerful imagination, Jess spends hours writing, reading, or simply hiding in the dark warmth of the airing cupboard. As the child of an English father and a Nigerian mother, Jess just can't shake off the feeling of being alone wherever she goes, and other kids are wary of her terrified fits of screaming. When her parents take her to Nigeria to visit her mother's family, she encounters Titiola, or TillyTilly, a ragged little girl her own age. To Jess, it seems that, at last, she has found someone who will understand her. But gradually TillyTilly's visits become more disturbing, making Jess start to realize that she doesn't know who TillyTilly is at all. A story of twins and ghosts, of a little girl growing up between cultures and colors, this book heralds the arrival of a remarkable new talent.

The Icarus Girl : A Novel

Penguin Books Canada, Limited

PEACES: A NOVEL

"I read The Opposite House with rare happiness. The voice in it is so sure, the risk it takes is so good and the intelligence in it is a sheer relief."—Ali Smith, author of The Accidental Maja Carmen Carrerra was only five years old when her family emigrated to London. Growing up, she speaks the Spanish of her native land and the English of her adopted country, but longs for a connection to her African roots. Now in her early twenties, Maja is haunted by thoughts of Cuba and the desire to make sense of the threads of her history. Maja's mother has found comfort in Santeria—a faith that melds Catholic saints and the Yoruba gods of West African religion. Her involvement with Santeria, however, divides the family as Maja's father rails against his wife's superstitions and the lost dreams of the Castro revolution.  Maja's narrative is one of two parallel voices in Oyeyemi's beautifully wrought novel. Yemaya Saramagua speaks from the other side of the reality wall—in the Somewherehouse, which has two doors, one opening to London, the other to Lagos. A Yoruban goddess, Yemaya, is troubled by the ease with which her fellow gods have disguised themselves as saints and reappeared under different names and faces.  As Maja and Yemaya move closer to understanding themselves, they realize that the journey to discovering where home truly lies is at once painful and exhilarating.

The Opposite House

Contemporary

BLOOMSBURY

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Books by Helen Oyeyemi