Boy, Snow, Bird ~ Helen Oyeyemi
She is not yet 30, but Nigerian-born British novelist, Helen Oyeyemi is already an accomplished novelist. Her first oeuvre: The Icarus Girl was written in 2005 when she was studying for her A’ levels. It was followed by The Opposite House (2007), White is for Witching (2009) and Mr Fox (2011). Her writing is inspired by mythical tales and fables as is the case in her latest novel: Boy, Snow, Bird. It infuses Ms. Oyeyemi’s imaginative originality into the enchanting tale of Snow White.
It is the winter of 1953 and Boy Novak moves from New York to a small town in Massachusetts where she marries local widower and craftsman – Arturo. She also becomes the stepmother to his delightful daughter Snow. The dynamic changes with the arrival of Boy and Arturo’s own child – a dark-skinned daughter called Bird. The story – which has been described as ‘dazzlingly inventive and powerfully moving‘ tackles the somewhat sensitive issues of beauty and race.
