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

A Cage Went in Search of a Bird Ten Kafkaesque Stories

NAOMI ALDERMAN

Yiyun, Li

Elif Batuman

Leone Ross

Ali Smith

KEITH RIDGWAY

Charlie Kaufman

Tommy Orange

Little, Brown Book Group Limited

Peaces is the story of Otto and Xavier Shin, a couple who embark on a mysterious train journey that takes them far beyond any destination they could have anticipated. As the carriages roll along they discover each is more curious and fascinating than the last, becoming embroiled in this strange train and its intrigue. Who is Ava Kapoor, the sole full-time inhabitant of the train, and what is her relationship to a man named Prem? Are they passengers or prisoners? We discover who orchestrated the journey, hurtling them all into their past for clues.\nThis is a brilliant, wise, strange and, above all, beautiful novel.

Peaces Helen Oyeyemi

Faber and Faber

Parasol Against the Axe

Parasol against the Axe

Genre Fiction

Faber&Faber

'A writer of sentences so elegant that they gleam.' 
ALI SMITH\n'Entirely original.' 
STYLIST\n'Oyeyemi has mastered the art of bold, expansive storytelling.' 
IRENOSEN OKOJIE\n'A writer we should be delirious to have as a contemporary.' 
INDEPENDENT\nThe new novel from the Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted author Helen Oyeyemi.\nOyeyemi treats you to a kaleidoscopic weekend in Prague, as dazzling as it is effortlessly unique. Get lost in the story like you would an unfamiliar city and let it reward you with moments of philosophical clarity, wheelbarrow rides, raw emotion and raw onions.\nThis novel is a holiday, an adventure, a marvel and a guide. It is a story about the lies behind the lies we tell and a city as a living thing, sustained by the lives of its inhabitants. Suffused with warmth and joy, Parasol Against the Axe is a love letter to Prague, and to the art of storytelling.

'Oyeyemi's imagination is impressive and vast.' Guardian The glorious new novel from the landmark author - a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

A New New Me

Parasol Against the Axe A Novel

Penguin

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Books by Helen Oyeyemi