The Opposite House Paperback – June 10, 2008

Tales from black Cuban Nigerians inhabit the lives of a modern day family, lending humor, richness and mystery into their everyday lives! Outstanding! Enveloping all senses continually that keeps the reader submersed into the richness of vision, myth and culture which fuses into today's moments and where nothing is really as it seems....

Helen Oyeyemi is a young woman of Nigerian descent who has lived in London since 1988, when she was four years old. Being a black immigrant in Great Britain seems to have had a direct influence on this book, The Opposite House.This is an unusual book and not a story that is easy to get into. Oyeyemi writes in a sumptuous poetic style that is filled with metaphors and color. An example of that style comes from page 51 of this edition, "Cars thread past the traffic lights like an outpour of lost buttons." This descriptive style is both rich and confusing in that the metaphors frequently took me away from the flow of the story.The novel is mainly about Maja, an Afro-Cuban girl who emigrated from Cuba to England when her father began to feel that Castro's government was not going to let him live the life they desired. Like Oyeyemi, Maja was four when she arrived in London and as the plot unfolds she has only a few confused memories of Cuba. In school this is an issue because she is the descendent of slaves brought to Cuba-so her heritage is African, but she has never been there at all. This causes her to struggle with her identity and confuses her ideas of where her life should be going. Her best friend is from Trinidad and her boyfriend is a white Ghanaian.Adding to this somewhat convoluted racial plot is a subplot of magical realism - a somewherehouse with doors to London and Lagos. There are characters there that seem to reflect some aspect of Maja's feelings. These sections are reminiscent of the works of Gabriel Garcia-Marquez and Toni Morrison.This is a book that is definitely not light reading, but could make for an interesting discussion piece in the right class or book group.Armchair Interviews agrees.

The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi is a somewhat complex novel that focuses on the antics of Maja Carrerra, a Cuban-born Londoner, who is pregnant by her white Ghanaian boyfriend and "the opposite house" where a Santerian goddess, Aya Saramagua, ventures out to find her roots amid a prevalent `ache/longing' that seems to permeate her world.Maja's world is filled with drama. Her parents, both highly educated academics, are exiles from Castro's Cuba who embrace London as a place for second chances, but cling to their Spanish and African roots. Her young mother is highly religious and blends Catholicism with Santeria (an African-Cuban religion), while her elderly father is seemingly an atheist. Thus, there is no surprise when her parents clash over religion and their disagreement lasts through the majority of the book. Her best friend, Amy Eleni, is a white lesbian who faces challenges dealing with her sexuality. Maja also deals with her unplanned pregnancy, her burgeoning singing career, her bohemian, film-maker boyfriend and a younger brother who is struggling to come of age as a black man in a Westernized London.Oyeyemi writes angst into Maja's character with a longing for Cuba and her ancestors there. There was an attempt to draw parallels between the London-based Maja and the Lagos-based Aya; the Amy in Maja's world and an Ami in Aya's world -- but the symbolisms and allegories were quickly lost with this reader. It got to a point (midway in the novel) where I felt I needed to reread passages for clarity and understanding, but at that point, I could really care less about the characters and persevered through the narrative just to get through the story.Honestly, if this were not a review book, I doubt if I would have had the interest and patience to finish the book. The author's writing style requires great patience on the reader's part and I found myself growing weary with the scene changes and the transitions from "reality" to the mystical "opposite" world where the story is carried in lyrical, symbolic prose (that I struggled to decipher). Initially, I was interested in Maja's world, but it quickly waned about a quarter into the book when the plot seemed to fizzle. I also really tried to connect with Aya's story, but failed miserably. The other characters (save Amy Eleni) offered nothing solid to support the plot or move the story forward. At the end of the novel, I felt no closure and was scratching my head and wondering what I had just read.This was my first read with the author. I heard and read the rave reviews about her debut, The Icarus Girl, but never got a chance to read it. When I read the premise behind this novel, I was excited and so very much wanted to enjoy it; however, I was somewhat disappointed with the book as a whole. On a positive note, the author was successful in covering the cross-cultural aspects and I gave her credit for creativity and educating the reader about challenges of immigrants and differing views on the African Diaspora; thus the "3" rating. I am willing to read her debut and hope it will prove to be a better read for me.Reviewed by PhyllisAPOOO BookClub