paperback, 352 pages
Published March 7, 2017 by Riverhead Books.
The stories collected here are linked by more than the exquisitely winding prose of their creator: Helen Oyeyemi's ensemble cast of characters slip from the pages of their own stories only to surface in another. The reader is invited into a world of lost libraries and locked gardens, of marshlands where the drowned dead live and a city where all the clocks have stopped; students hone their skills at puppet school, the Homely Wench Society commits a guerrilla book-swap, and lovers exchange books and roses on St Jordi's Day. It is a collection of towering imagination, marked by baroque beauty and a deep sensuousness.
A collection of engaging short stories all woven together; they're all so good it'll leave you frustrated wanting more. I can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but if you like short stories, you'll love these.
I love it when short stories blend into one another. Admittedly, sometimes I didn't get the punchline, but overall this was a solid short story collection with a nice diverse feeling to it.
I loved this collection of fantastical, magical, achingly beautiful, and delicately interconnected short stories so much, I don’t know how to start describing it. Please, read this book. Your being will thank you for it.
