THE ICARUS GIRL

by Helen Oyeyemi

From the description of this book, I was a bit hesitant to begin reading it.  How could a book about an eight-year-old girl dealing with an imaginary friend have enough depth and plot to hold my interest? It sounded more like something I would read to Charlotte.  My fears were truly unfounded, however, and I found The Icarus Girl suspenseful and full of emotional depth.

The main character Jess is visiting her mother’s family in Nigeria for the first time, having lived her whole life in London with her English father and Nigerian mother. While she navigates life with her grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins, she meets TillyTilly, a wild girl who seems to get into trouble without consequences or regrets.  At first it seems TillyTilly is just shy, but the reader begins to suspect that Jess may be imagining her. 

The Icarus Girl is the most recent book I’ve read in an incredible group of books by African authors that intertwine traditional beliefs about the spirit world, particularly about twins, with a contemporary story to excellent and mind-bending effect. (Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi and Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi are two excellent examples.)

Oyeyemi writes the book brilliantly from Jess’s perspective, and Jess is not at all sure whether TillyTilly is a real girl, a ghost or something even more sinister. As Jess discovers secrets from her family’s past, TillyTilly’s power seems to grow and things begin to fall apart.  Oyeyemi truly kept me on edge until the last page, unsure what was real or how anything would be resolved. (Lily)