Sumiko Saulson’s Black Women in Horror Writing #11: Helen Oyeyemi
I love that Bryan Cebulski is doing this – he is reading and reviewing various selections by authors profiled in “60 Black Women in Horror” check out his blog.
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
Review by Bryan Cebulski (@BryanOnion)
To be honest, I haven’t been sure on what I should write as regards The Icarus Girl. My foremost thoughts are that it’s worth reading—an effective novel operating as both ghost story and bildungsroman. I’m impressed that Helen Oyeyemi wrote it when she was only in her late teens. I have complaints, in particular the lackluster ending and underdeveloped themes, but it was an enjoyable read throughout. Creepy, moving, well-written—aspiring to something beyond the trappings of a horror novel (perhaps because Oyeyemi never consciously constructed it as such in the first place). A creative mixture of Nigerian folklore and Jane Eyre-style Gothic tropes. Certainly a work worth emphasizing its strengths before examining its weaknesses.
I suppose in trying to write a review about this novel, I inadvertently led myself to question what kind of…
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