Gingerbread

A Novel

By: Helen Oyeyemi

Narrated by: Helen Oyeyemi

"Exhilarating...A wildly imagined, head-spinning, deeply intelligent novel." - The New York Times Book Review

"[W]ildly inventive…[Helen Oyeyemi's] prose is not without its playful bite." –Vogue

The prize-winning, bestselling author of Boy Snow Bird, What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, and Peaces returns with a bewitching and imaginative novel.

Influenced by the mysterious place gingerbread holds in classic children's stories, 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 (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 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.

Narration difficult to follow

The narrator, tho has a cute sounding voice, tends to split and speak much too fast. Lacks enunciation. Very difficult to follow.

I felt like I fell down the rabbit hole

I wouldn't recommend this book unless you really like fantastic alternative facts with the world turning upside down...

Maybe it would have been different if I had read the book or at least had a copy of the book while I listened

qAt the end of the book, the one thing I could say is "my brain hurt"

Slow to capture me but in the end I savored it

Well... weird indeed and hard to parse but there are truths and themes that seem all the more real and universal and evocative for being strange and just out of reach. Both a parable in its symbolism and a fanciful tale about serious emotions and life’s trials, I heartily recommend hanging in there when at first it all makes no sense and seems bent on purposeful confusion! You will be rewarded. And now off to bake some gingerbread!

Beautiful writing - good narration

I don't usually enjoy books narrated by the author, but Helen Oyeyemi's voice really grew on me throughout the recording. I can't imagine anyone else voicing Perdita. I love magical realism and Oyeyemi's writing is beautiful. There were a couple of places in the middle where I kind of got lost, but it always managed to pull me back in. Loved the creativity!

Exquisite

This book, and the narration by the author, are simply exquisite. It is not a quick read/listen, it's more something to savor in small increments. Give yourself time to digest this story. Also, the review by purplebrain gets it right - the author's voice is absolutely vital to the story. This is one of the few times I would say it is more important to listen than to read. I would love to explore this author's other works, but won't until she herself records them.