Apt, then, that images of locks and keys – both actual and metaphorical – are threaded through each of the tales, reminding us that there’s always more than meets the eye. Her use of fairytales, folklore and ghost stories is distinctly reminiscent of the work of Angela Carter, but the writer’s messages here can be somewhat harder to decipher. From Cambridge to Prague, through secret societies and gardens, an exclusive spa where dieters sleep themselves thin and a hotel no one ever checks out of, the breadth of Oyeyemi’s imagination is impressive, teetering, as ever, on the edge of magical realism. If you are a fan of absurdist tales, this may be a collection worth checking out.T he stories in this enchanting new collection from Helen Oyeyemi, one of Granta’s best young British novelists of 2013, are linked by recurring characters and themes.
I also loved how casually queer these stories are. Still, I did appreciate Oyeyemi’s British humor. While I’m sure this was intentional, it did work against my being able to feel involved in whatever was going on. These stories are so profoundly perplexing that I struggled to follow whatever was happening. Leaving me feeling rather The carnivalesque elements embedded in these narratives brought to mind la commedia dell’arte (i believe pulcinella gets a mention). The stories seem to end randomly, providing no real closure or insight into whatever these characters were going through. Rather than having straightforward plotlines, these stories seem to be composed of eccentric vignettes that aren’t going in any particular direction. It isn’t often clear where or when we are but we are made to accept these stories offbeat premises. The stories begin with little ceremony, plunging straight into bizarroland. While I loved that these stories celebrated books and creativity, and I found the quirky dialogues and character responses to be amusing, I did have a hard time figuring out what the hell was happening. While readers will find her characters’ circumstances and misadventures to be bizarre to the extreme, they seem relatively nonplussed by how weird and absurd their lives are. Magical keys, doors, puppets, and houses populate their lives, and Oyeyemi treats these elements with little fanfare. These intentionally bewildering fabulist stories are inhabited by off-kilter characters who find themselves in increasingly fantastical scenarios. “A library at night is full of sounds: The unread books can’t stand it any longer and announce their contents, some boasting, some shy, some devious.”Ĭonfusion galore! What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours is a relentlessly inventive and delightfully playful collection of interlocked short stories.
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