3.0
The Opposite House
ByPublisher Description
Lyrical and intensely moving, The Opposite House explores the thin wall between myth and reality through the alternating tales of two young women. Growing up in London, Maja, a singer, always struggled to negotiate her Afro-Cuban background with her physical home. Yemaya is a Santeria emissary who lives in a mysterious somewherehouse with two doors: one opening to London, the other to Lagos. She is troubled by the ease with which her fellow emissaries have disguised themselves behind the personas of saints and by her inability to recognize them. Interweaving these two tales. Helen Oyeyemi, acclaimed author of The Icarus Girl, spins a dazzling tale about faith, identity, and self-discovery.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Opposite House Reviews
3.0
“Some mixed feelings on this one but the writing was absolutely gorgeous it felt like I was in some sort of fragmented dream-like state whilst reading. That did make it a little disjointed and confusing though, and I wish there had been more of a plot to follow along with alongside the lush symbolism.”
“Helen Oyeyemi's "The Opposite House" was recommended in Akwaeke Emezi's autobiography as a book that turns you inside out. having gotten through my Emezi selections (for now) and eager to see who inspires them, I picked up this novel to take a glimpse into this inside-outing.
Oyeyemi's novel is thick with African and Cuban history in a way that I wasn't expecting, but not only has it piqued my interest in Afro-Cuban diaspora and histories of other groups of migrants in Cuba, the protagonist's tale speaks to the distance often fostered between us and our Indigenous cultures and religion, and the myriad of ways that diaspora people maintain - or sever - this connection. This novel is also full of meaningful relationships between women, girls, and saints that underscore large-scale political transformation through language and religion.
As for the writing itself, this isn't a random knock to my intelligence, but i genuinely think I might be a little too dumb for Oyeyemi's writing style. It's very beautiful, dreamy and decadent, descriptive and imaginative, you have no choice but to pay close attention to each choice of verb and metaphor. Oyeyemi has a wonderful command of phrase and language, so much so that much of the book went over my head... considering a re-read but I am not sure the plot or characters gripped me enough in that process to read again.”
“Dark, moving, mysterious and utterly original. I loved getting lost in another Oyeyemi book, it’s a drug my brain didn’t know it needed.
This one in particular has vast gauzy layers I can only begin to grasp at the corners of…”
About Helen Oyeyemi
Helen Oyeyemi was born in Nigeria in 1984 and has lived in London since the age of four. She completed her first novel The Icarus Girl before her nineteenth birthday. She graduated from Cambridge University in June 2006 and lives in London. The Opposite House is her second novel.
Other books by Helen Oyeyemi
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