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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.
Review Quotes
1. "Helen Oyeyemi is a startling literary prodigy. She wrote her first mature novel, "The Icarus Girl," at age 18. That book displayed Oyeyemi's gift as a fantasist. She has the ability to shift between realism and expressionism without surrendering to self-indulgence. She brings that special sensibility to "The Opposite House," her new novel of lives split between the multicultural West and 'the opposite house'--dreams, longings and sensibilities rooted elsewhere....Oyeyemi has fashioned a narrative that is at turns comic, lovely, and grotesque. She has an original voice and a rich gift for conjuring the fantastic. At age 22, she is already an innovator. Look what she's done to the contemporary novel of the cultural bouillabaisse. She's added a magical dimension that recalls the visionary worlds of Emily Dickinson, Neruda, and even Rimbaud."
--"The Washington Post Book World"
"I read "The Opposite House" with rare happiness. The voice in it is so sure, the risk it takes is so good and the intelligence in it is a sheer relief."
--Ali Smith, author of "The Accidental
""Remember her name: Helen Oyeyemi. The novelist, 22, pulls off an amazing feat of imagination...and leaves you obsessed with her characters and in awe of her talent."
--"Glamour
"""The Opposite House" is a wonderful, slippery kind of work...[Oyeyemi's] voice is certainly her own...and there's an intellectual sharpness about the author's writing which is a pleasure to read."
--"Financial Times
""The young Nigerian-born English author Oyeyemi follows her acclaimed debut, "The Icarus Girl," with another dazzlingly imaginative novel."
--"Library Journal "(starred review)
"The novel's lyrical andstylistic experimentation speaks to Oyeyemi's depth of talent."
--"Publishers Weekly"
"From the Hardcover edition."
2. "Complex, challenging, utterly thrilling."
--"The Miami Herald"
"A startling literary prodigy. . . . [Oyeyemi] has the ability to shift between realism and expressionism without surrendering to self-indulgence. . . . Recalls the visionary worlds of Emily Dickinson, Neruda and even Rimbaud."
--"The Washington Post Book World"
"Beautiful, meandering. . . . [A novel] about the difficulties of knowing who you are, especially if you are born of several incompatible cultures."
--"The Times" (London)
"Again displays [Oyeyemi's] amazing sure-handedness that is far beyond her years."
--"Seattle Post-Intelligencer"
3. "Complex, challenging, utterly thrilling." --"The Miami Herald""A startling literary prodigy. . . . [Oyeyemi] has the ability to shift between realism and expressionism without surrendering to self-indulgence. . . . Recalls the visionary worlds of Emily Dickinson, Neruda and even Rimbaud." --"The Washington Post Book World" "Beautiful, meandering. . . . [A novel] about the difficulties of knowing who you are, especially if you are born of several incompatible cultures." --"The Times" (London)"Again displays [Oyeyemi's] amazing sure-handedness that is far beyond her years." --"Seattle Post-Intelligencer"
4. Complex, challenging, utterly thrilling. "The Miami Herald" A startling literary prodigy. . . . [Oyeyemi] has the ability to shift between realism and expressionism without surrendering to self-indulgence. . . . Recalls the visionary worlds of Emily Dickinson, Neruda and even Rimbaud. "The Washington Post Book World" Beautiful, meandering. . . . [A novel] about the difficulties of knowing who you are, especially if you are born of several incompatible cultures. "The Times" (London) Again displays [Oyeyemi's] amazing sure-handedness that is far beyond her years. "Seattle Post-Intelligencer""
5. Complex, challenging, utterly thrilling. The Miami Herald A startling literary prodigy. . . . [Oyeyemi] has the ability to shift between realism and expressionism without surrendering to self-indulgence. . . . Recalls the visionary worlds of Emily Dickinson, Neruda and even Rimbaud. The Washington Post Book World Beautiful, meandering. . . . [A novel] about the difficulties of knowing who you are, especially if you are born of several incompatible cultures. The Times (London) Again displays [Oyeyemi's] amazing sure-handedness that is far beyond her years. Seattle Post-Intelligencer"
