![]() ![]() This novel would require attention, not just because I couldn’t guess where each sentence was leading, but also because I was trying to get my feet under me. I knew immediately there wasn’t going to be any skimming. A few paragraphs later, “the wheat field had done it again, stolen the afternoon.” Everything is alive, unpredictable, sometimes whimsical and other times sinister, and often very bizarre. ![]() Early in the story, the main character walks through a field and passes an “array of plant vertebrate combinations,” including droopy-eared rabbits, which she douses with her watering can. Her newest novel, “Gingerbread,” is no exception. Her sentences are like grabbing onto the tail of a vibrant, living creature without knowing what you’ll find at the other end. Helen Oyeyemi doesn’t allow her readers such laziness. I find myself skimming sentences, paragraphs, entire pages without missing a single important morsel. ![]() Even when the characters act believably out of character and the plot twists in a satisfying way, all too often I can predict the next step. I have a recurring disappointment with modern novels. ![]()
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