When I began this book, I had no earthly idea what I was getting myself into. Often I like to go into a book having read little to nothing about it, figuring that this will enhance my pleasure and involvement in a story that’s completely new to me. While this usually works wonderfully, sometimes it backfires, as was the case with this book. As I dove in and read along, I realized I had no idea what was going on here! This was in part because the story opens with several short pieces of fiction that seem to share some of the same themes and characters, but not much else. Although it took me awhile to figure out what was happening, I didn’t dare put this book down due to Oyeyemi’s impressive and elastic way of setting her stage and creatively imbuing her tales with a strange and diverting life that I couldn’t ignore.
As the story progresses, the viewpoint shifts from exploring Mr. Fox’s fictional offerings (all starring a different version of his muse, Mary) to exploring the problems that Mr. Fox and Daphne are having keeping their love alive and fresh after the intrusion of a new imaginary paramour. Daphne is of course jealous, for Mary has been created as the perfect woman, and it seems to her that Mr. Fox would rather spend his time with his creative consort than with her. Though she realizes that it’s silly and ridiculous to be jealous of a woman who doesn’t even exist, she can’t help feeling rejected and discarded. But it’s Mr. Fox who has the greater dilemma, for he’s actually in love with both women and can’t decide between a love that lives only in his mind or a love that lives and breathes right next to him. Both women share a lot of the same qualities, which makes Mr. Fox’s situation and decisions even more precarious.
What I really loved about this book were the chapters that showcased the fictional stories written by Mr. Fox. These stories ranged the gamut from the sad to the wise to the violent, and in their creation Oyeyemi creates several very complex tales that veer between myth, fable and morality tale. I admit it took awhile to see exactly what she was doing, but when I discovered that this book wasn’t only a tale of a strange love story but an examination of the power and fluidity of fiction, I became very engaged and excited to see where it would lead. And I can’t say enough about the vision and originality of these stories. They were dark and powerful and wild, and they held an unforeseen energy that I couldn’t look away from. As the story of Mr. Fox and his two women becomes more clear, the stories running alongside lengthened and became more complex, like separate mosaics caught in the unwavering sunlight.
When Mr. Fox’s dilemma is finally solved, one woman is finally turned away and the other is left to gloat over her spoils. And even in this choosing, Oyeyemi surprised me, for events happened in a very clever way. At the last, we’re left with two competing short stories, one heartbreakingly stunning and one joyously flawless, proving to this reader that Oyeyemi is not only talented in the linear and organic ways of storytelling, but also in the figurative and indirect. This was a book that caught me completely off guard and held me captive with its odd style and brilliant execution. I would heartily recommend it to those looking for something that is both striking and original. A great read, highly recommended.
This book was provided as a complimentary review copy.
Martin is a scholar who’s been sent to India to document the effect of the Partition that’s taking place in 1947 India. When his wife Evie decides she wants to tag along and bring their young son Billy, Martin is initially reluctant. But Evie persists and eventually wins out. Arriving and living those first few months in India is an idyllic adventure for Evie and Billy, but Martin is having trouble both in his marriage and in India itself. It seems that Martin is hiding some secrets about his time as an allied soldier in WWII, and these stresses are pushing him further and further from his wife and child. Evie is at a loss to explain what’s going on with her husband, and when she discovers a cache of ancient letters behind a brick in her kitchen wall, she uses the drama unfolding from her discovery as a way to distance herself from her ever-increasing problems with Martin. The letters Evie discovers are correspondence and journals dating back to 1857, and tell the story of two very unconventional Victorian ladies named Felicity and Adela who come to India to escape the threat of having marriages foisted upon them. As Evie hunts down clues to the women’s past, she uncovers a strange story of love and loyalty amid a backdrop of political tension that exposes them to the dangerous political rifts of India during the height of the Raj. Meanwhile, the tension is building around Evie and her family as well, as Ghandi’s plan for his people begins to cause friction and violence that‘s impossible to ignore. As each of these stories winds itself around the other, the tropical lushness of India comes alive, providing a stunning backdrop to two stories of troubled love, heightened cultural difficulties, and devastating and far reaching drama.
It’s the summer of 1877 in Constanta, on the Black Sea, and a very special baby has been born. From the moment she enters the world, strange and unusual prophecies begin to unfurl. Though Eleanora's mother died during her birth, her father raises her with help from her maternal aunt Ruxandra, and Eleanora winds up being a very precocious young girl indeed. Able to mentally decipher all kinds of knowledge, not only academically but emotionally as well, Eleanora is kept marginalized by her aunt who wishes to avoid scandal attaching to the family name. But talent and skill will out, and soon Eleanora is on her way to becoming a very important fixture in Stamboul, a fate she never envisioned for herself. Meanwhile, the Sultan Abdulhamid II is trying to maintain a tenuous hold on his lands and is being besieged by foreign powers that have very different political aims than he does. Beleaguered with responsibilities to his realm and employing a bevy of spies, the Sultan Abdulhamid II has his eye on a man who has become very dear to Eleanora’s heart, a man who has sworn an oath to her father and who might be at the center of a secret and dangerous side of politics. When the Sultan gets word of the talented girl in his midst, everything about Eleanora’s life begins to change. Infused with touches of magical realism, The Oracle of Stamboul is a whirlwind trip into the heart and mind of a very special little girl, and the people who come to shape and change her life, for better or worse.
About the Author
Gunnar Gunderson is a physicist with some pretty straightforward ways at looking at the world. While his research delving into the physics of absolute zero is going very well and he’s just secured tenure at the university, Gunnar suddenly feels an intense need to find a mate and wants to act on this desire quickly. While on a small hiatus from his teaching and research, Gunnar decides to devote his three day stretch to finding a woman whom he can settle down with. But three days being what it is, Gunnar finds himself in a pickle when his strange preparations for meeting the girl of his dreams don’t go as planned. However, he’s delighted when a chance encounter puts him in the way of a very attractive woman who is receptive and open to Gunnar in a way that none have been before. From the moment they meet, Gunnar and his paramour are smitten, and when Gunnar agrees to go to great lengths to be with the woman he loves, he has no idea what he’s getting himself into. Thus the three day courtship of his imagination takes on some huge permutations, and Gunnar begins to realize there are huge differences between love and science. In this hugely heartwarming and emotionally eloquent saga of Gunnar and the stirring of his heart, Meeks shares with us a most endearing man, looking for love and enchantment in some very unusual ways.
About the Author
When the unnamed protagonist of this unlikely and intriguing novel finds himself in love and about to marry a woman he affectionately calls Q, he receives a visit from his future self, who warns him that he must not marry her. At first he’s sceptical and unwilling to follow this other self’s directives. After a few more unpleasant meetings with the man he dubs I-60, the facts surrounding his and Q’s relationship become painfully clear, and it’s up to him to make a choice: Either jettison Q and find himself alone, or marry her and find themselves in horrible straits later on. After making the hardest decision of his life, our unnamed hero continues onward. But much to his chagrin, he’s visited again by an alternate self from a different future, with more advice. Annoyed that his future self seems to always contrive dinner meetings that are both expensive and exclusive, the protagonist realizes he must once again take charge of the situation and change the direction of his fate. But no matter what he does, the visits continue, and situations always need rectifying. In between visits, our unnamed hero contemplates the singular meaning of life, struggles to understand the complexities of evolution, and tries his hand at crafting the perfect novel of alternate history, becoming increasingly complicit in his future self’s plans for the advancements of his future. Both absurd and highly original, Q tells the story of fate interrupted, and shares the intimate thoughts of the man who spends his time, and his future, interrupting it.
About the Author
It’s the summer of 2005 and Hurricane Katrina is threatening the Gulf Coast. Fourteen year old Esch and her unconventional family are living in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi and each member of her clan is beset by their own drama. For Esch, it’s is the fact that she’s recently learned she’s pregnant by a boy who’s neither romantically inclined toward her nor compassionate. Esch’s brother Randall is trying to make it to basketball camp where he’s sure to be noticed by collegiate scouts, while her father is desperately trying to make their house hurricane ready in between bouts of heavy drunkenness. But it’s middle child Skeetah’s drama that really takes center stage. Skeet’s beloved female pit bull China has just birthed 4 puppies, and it’s up to him to see that these little balls of fluff survive amidst the chaos and abject poverty. Complicating matters is the fact that Esch and her brothers are basically raising themselves in desperate destitution, as their father doesn’t seem capable of caring for them and things are only getting more dire. When the safety of the puppies is threatened, Skeetah goes to extreme lengths to keep them alive, while Esch tries desperately to hide her growing belly from her father and brothers. Meanwhile the hurricane reaches category 5 status and the family is unable to evacuate. Soon events begin to explode into one another upon the family, and it will take all the will they have to come out on the other side. But their future is far from certain, and where some will rise, some will fall. Deeply penetrating and hauntingly dark, this is the story of one family’s desperate struggle to survive through one of the fiercest storms on record.
About the Author
In this charged and rousing new collection, author Midge Raymond gives us ten short stories centering around women on the emotional edge who have left the States to pursue adventure and sometimes healing in far-off lands. We meet a woman visiting her sister in Tonga who gets caught up in an illicit and ill-advised relationship that emotionally pits her against her sister, and meet a woman in Tokyo who is aching to relieve the pressure of an unexpectedly painful loss. Another woman is trying to emotionally distance herself from others and decides to choose a career devoted to penguin research in Antarctica, where she becomes complicit to a horrible accident that may not have been an accident at all. A young woman in Taipei is struggling with depression and anxiety that exactly mirrors what her language teacher and new found friend seems to be going through. Traveling the world, one woman finds herself lamenting her lost marriage and considers how putting her work first may have driven her husband away, while a young actress traveling to Hawaii as a nanny for a very wealthy couple frets about her dwindling prospects. In each of these stories, the unnamed women search their new and impermanent surroundings for the things they’ve lost or been forced to give up, and they come to understand the longing they feel cannot be left behind them when they finally return home. Both stylistically simple and deeply poignant, Raymond imbues the women in this collection with both wise self-assessment and heartbreaking reality, giving her readers an intimate peek into the minds of women that run the spectrum from obsessed to heartbroken to isolated.
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