Fly Away With The Icarus Girl
Written: Feb 27 '06 (Updated Feb 28 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The Icarus Girl is a powerful debut novel about loneliness and acceptance.
Cons: Though written about children, it is not a good choice for preteens.
The Bottom Line: An enchanting tale of a lonely girl whose new friend teaches her to fly until she goes crashing disastrously to the earth.
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| bartzone's Full Review: Helen Oyeyemi - The Icarus Girl |
The Icarus Girl
Sue's Pre-Ramble
I first saw Helen Oyeyemi, the author of The Icarus Girl interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning or the Saturday Early Show and was absolutely entranced by her and her story. I kept the book on my wish list for quite awhile and when it was added to my online book club—Quality Paperback Books—I immediately ordered it. I picked it up off of Mt. To-Be-Read this weekend and dove into new and unexplored depths. It read quickly and very enjoyably.
Author
Helen Oyeyemi was born in Nigeria and moved to England when she was four. Oyeyemi is quite remarkable in that she is still just 21 years old and going to college, yet she’s written a bold, textured tale as if she were someone who has lived and experienced so much more. I expect to see many more stories in the future.
Characters
The Icarus Girl, Jessamy Harrison (Her grandfather has given her the Nigerian name of Wuraola and calls her that exclusively) is eight years old, half Nigerian and half English, half black and half white. She often feels like she is only half of something and not whole. She has alienated herself at school by pitching screaming tantrums whenever she gets angry or scared and there are a lot of things that can scare her. She has a huge imagination and is very articulate for a child her age, unless she is asked to explain what it is she is feeling and why. Jessamy has a propensity for eating very interesting concoctions like cheddar cheese and strawberry jam sandwiches.
Sarah Harrison is Jessamy’s mother, a writer who left Nigeria to attend college in London in order to become a doctor and go home to heal her people. Her father has not forgiven her for going her own way. She becomes very scared of Jessamy and her own inability to parent this wild child.
Daniel Harrison is Jessamy’s father, a caring man who often sees things from Jess’s point of view and tries to intercede when his wife gets exasperated.
Titiola is a mysterious girl who makes friends with Jess when she and her parents go to visit family in Nigeria for the summer. Jessamy thinks she is just the perfect friend and is amazed at some of the impossible things her friend can do. Her name is difficult for Jess to pronounce so she calls her TillyTilly. When the Harrisons go back to England, Jess misses her terribly and amazingly she shows up in the neighborhood.
Setting
Most of The Icarus Girl takes place in a city in England though about a third of the story takes place at Jess’s grandfather’s compound in Nigeria. Jessamy lives in a dreary small house with a postage stamp yard and attends a school where a girl who is bullied at home—Colleen—bullies the kids on the playground and in the classroom. The weather is always damp and friendless Jess often plays or reads indoors by herself. Her grandfather on the other hand, lives in a large house in Nigeria surrounded and shaded by the houses in which his children and their families live. It is hot and dusty and they continually worry about the electricity being shut off by the poorly run government. Jess is surrounded here by her Nigerian cousins, but she feels just as lonely as home because she can’t speak Yoruban with them.
Story
In The Icarus Girl, Jessamy scuffles through life looking down at the ground because she is afraid of being spoken to and having to carry on a conversation. She spends a lot of time in her own imagination without any friends and is delighted to finally find the perfect friend (almost like a sister) when she visits her grandfather in Nigeria. TillyTilly knows just what to say and has some remarkable abilities. Jess accepts these mystical happenings because she is so lonely and then things begin to turn ugly. Shortly after Jess and her family return home, TillyTilly moves into the same neighborhood and seems to know whenever a person has slighted Jessamy in any way. She pledges to “get” the wrong-doers and though Jess feels a little guilty about it, she doesn’t really mind that her classmates and acquaintances are hurt physically or mentally until her own dad is “gotten.” Jessamy learns a secret about herself that changes everything and a darkness falls deeply over Jessamy and her family. In order to set things right, Sarah takes her ailing family back to Nigeria the following summer and her father determines what must be done, if it’s not already too late to save his beloved granddaughter from the evil that threatens to snuff her out.
What I Like
The Icarus Girl rings true for anybody who has ever felt lonely, different or not accepted by the rest of the people around them. It also shows the lengths some will go to in order to secure friendship and loyalty from others. Even though the story is written about 8-10 year old children, I never felt like I didn’t belong in the conversation. The language is colorful and articulate, but not flowery or overdone. The characters are full and rounded. Though some of the action gets very metaphysical, it is still believable and overall the story is quite enjoyable. I finished it, hoping that I will find out more about Jessamy or characters like her in future novels. I would recommend this to mature teenagers and adults. I’m not sure but think that the mystical bits might be too scary for a child younger than that, though they’ve been reading Harry Potter and seem none the worse for wear.
What I Don’t Like
The only thing that I could complain about The Icarus Girl is that most of the threads of the story get woven together toward the end except that the family is all left a bit raw and damaged. Sarah never fully dealt with her tragedy, nor did Jessamy completely resolve her rift with her mother. I’d be interested to see how their lives move forward.
Final Recommendation
The Icarus Girl is an enchanting tale of a lonely girl who feels like she is only half a girl and whose new friend teaches her to fly until she goes crashing disastrously to the earth. I’ll be “releasing this book out into the wild” using BookCrossing.com. You can see my bookshelf at www.bookcrossing.com/friend/bartonz.
The Icarus Girl
Helen Oyeyemi
Nan A Talese Doubleday, 2005
Trade Paperback, 335 pages
ISBN 0-7394-6205-9
Recommended:
Yes
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bartzone
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Location: Bellevue, WA
Reviews written: 137
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About Me:
I have never felt certain of my writing, ...only quite certain of my opinions. Chesterton
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