Gingerbread
Summary:
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 to be 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 (and, according to Wikipedia, non-existent) land of Harriet Lee's early youth. In fact, the world's truest lover of the Lee family gingerbread is Harriet's charismatic childhood friend, Gretel Kercheval--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. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)
Review:
I really wanted to enjoy this one because I’ve heard nothing but good reviews on it, but it completely fell flat for me. Admittedly, I do not thing that magical realism will ever by my favorite genre, but I’ve read a few that I’ve managed to get into. “Gingerbread” is a book I just didn’t get. I am a reader who likes to know at least roughly what’s going on and that’s not a feeling you can get. The story is confusing, jumps around in a stream-of-consciousness way, shifts timeline, shifts types of magic and introduces a lot of different characters. I can roughly tell you what the book is about, but that has more to do with the synopsis than with my understanding. It’s a bad sign to me when I have to go back to reread the overview to reorient myself 20% into the book.
In the end I put the book down after three attempts and decided not to finish it. There were elements of the book that were beautiful descriptions and vivid types of memories, but it wasn’t enough to keep me engaged and interested in continuing in the story.
Warning: Contains some events that people might find triggering.
Rating: 1 star!
Who should read it? Fans of magical realism, heavy on the magic and light on the realism.