Gingerbread (HCR)

Hardcover

Influenced by the mysterious place gingerbread holds in classic childrens stories, the beloved bestselling author of Boy, Snow, Bird and What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours invites readers into a delightfully inventive and bewitching novel about a surprising family legacy, in which the inheritance is a recipe.

Perdita Lee may appear your average British schoolgirl; Harriet Lee may seem just a working mother trying to penetrate the school social hierarchy; but there are signs that they might not be as normal as they think they are. For one thing, they share a gold-painted, seventh-floor walk-up apartment with some surprisingly verbal vegetation. And then theres the gingerbread they make. Londoners may find themselves able to take or leave it, but its very popular in Druhstrana, the far away (or, according to many sources, non-existent) land of Harriet Lees early youth. The worlds truest lover of the Lee family gingerbread, however, is Harriets charismatic childhood friend Gretelaa figure who seems to have had a hand in everything (good or bad) that has happened to Harriet since they met.

Decades later, when teenage Perditas search for her mothers long-lost friend prompts a new telling of Harriets story. As the book follows the Lees through encounters with jealousy, ambition, family grudges, work, wealth, and real estate, gingerbread seems to be the one thing that reliably holds a constant value. Endlessly surprising and satisfying, written with Helen Oyeyemis inimitable style and imagination, Gingerbread is a true feast for the reader.