Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
ISBN: 0143197851
Format: Hardback, Paperback, E-Book,
Audio-Book
Release Date: 5th March 2019
Links: Goodreads, Amazon.com, Indigo,
B&N, Book Depository
Synopsis:
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 Druhstrana, 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 Gretela--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 teenage Perdita's search for her mother's long-lost friend 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, Gingerbread is a true feast for the reader.
Review:
**Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a finished
copy in return for my honest review**
Gingerbread is the latest book that I've read, and one I really enjoyed.
This book follows Perdita, a British school girl and her hardworking mother, Harriet. As a teenager, Perdita, beings a search for her mother's long-lost friend. She faces struggles along the way including jealously, family grudges and ambition.
The mother, Harriet, was a wonderfully written character. She raised her daughter alone and longed for acceptance from both her and the other mother's in town. She was the opposite of her daughter, Perdita, who just wished to escape the notice of her fellow students.
Gingerbread was a fascinating story of friendship, hardship, wealth, perseverance and family. The setting was a wonderfully twisted world inhabited by talking dolls, Gingerbread Girls, and was easily one of my favourite aspects of the book.
The majority of the book was told in flashbacks, along with glimpses into the present and what it is like in England. I wish more of the book had been told in present time but I also loved the look into the main characters past.
Helen Oyeyemi has a very interesting writing style. I found myself rereading sentence so I could fully understand what was being explained and said. However, this book had a certain magical charm to it that I really enjoyed. I didn't enjoy the plot as much as I was hoping, but I really loved her style of writing and it kept me reading.
Overall, I did really enjoy the writing style and although I wasn't the biggest fan of the plot, I did end up really enjoying it.
The mother, Harriet, was a wonderfully written character. She raised her daughter alone and longed for acceptance from both her and the other mother's in town. She was the opposite of her daughter, Perdita, who just wished to escape the notice of her fellow students.Gingerbread was a fascinating story of friendship, hardship, wealth, perseverance and family. The setting was a wonderfully twisted world inhabited by talking dolls, Gingerbread Girls, and was easily one of my favourite aspects of the book.
The majority of the book was told in flashbacks, along with glimpses into the present and what it is like in England. I wish more of the book had been told in present time but I also loved the look into the main characters past.
Helen Oyeyemi has a very interesting writing style. I found myself rereading sentence so I could fully understand what was being explained and said. However, this book had a certain magical charm to it that I really enjoyed. I didn't enjoy the plot as much as I was hoping, but I really loved her style of writing and it kept me reading.
Overall, I did really enjoy the writing style and although I wasn't the biggest fan of the plot, I did end up really enjoying it.
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