Gingerbread

Gingerbread
by Helen Oyeyemi

New York, New York : Riverhead Books, [2019]. 258 Pages. Fiction.

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.

I enjoyed this unique retelling of Hansel and Gretel. I listened to the audiobook using the Libby App, and I would highly recommend anyone interested in reading this book to do the same. The author, Helen Oyeyemi breathes magic into her words as she narrates her story. Her wording is descriptive and original and makes it easy for the reader/listener to become fully immersed in a strange, new world. The book also touched on real-world issues (feminism and race), which added a deeper element to this fairy tale. 

NS