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Jul 30, 2017DorisWaggoner rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Maybe I'm not up on my fairytales, but except for Snow's name and complexion, which there seem to be ultimate doubts about, the connection is a bit loose for me. There's not much fairytale sparkle here, in fact not much sparkle at all. Why Boy takes until she's 20 to leave the kind of abuse her father subjects her to is also beyond me. The birth of Boy and Arturo's baby, whom Snow, at 6, gets to name Bird, precipitates a family crisis, which ends in Snow being sent to live with an aunt and uncle. Later the two sisters find each other. So much in this novel makes no sense, the ending among them. Yet the writing, as has been mentioned, is wonderful. But not wonderful enough, I think, to make me read more of Ms. Oyeyemi's work. From their descriptions, all have goth elements in them which I fear I'm just too old to appreciate. "Frankenstein" was great when I was in college, but that was 50+ years ago, and I don't look good in black. I read Ms. Oyeyemi's interview in the Guardian when she published another book, and she has a "thing" about cities. They have to "feel right" for her to live there. Having moved a lot, I agree with that. I always moved for job reasons. I guess her prize money allows her to spend a few months her and another few months there until she finds the city that suits her for the moment. That's interesting. It also means that the characters in Boy, Snow, Bird, aren't really autobiographical, as they stick to one spot as long as they can. Except the immigrants, who have reasons we, in our own time, can understand.