The Opposite House: A Novel (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
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.
I have several things to say about different parts of this book, so I will write them out as I think of them. I first heard about it on NPR, and thought it sounded awesome - magical realism, santeria priestess, cool. So. ***possible spoilers, I don't know***There are two different stories going on here, and at one point, one character is in both of them - at least, it is a character with the same name. She doesn't seem to do anything similar in both parts, or.... well, by that point I had lost track. She's a healthyish lesbian in one story, and in the other, she has a boyfriend and is in a mental hospital.The magical realism mostly takes place in just one of the storylines, about Aya, who lives in the Opposite House. The other story is about Maja, a black Cuban living in London with her boyfriend. Her family came from Cuba when she was little, and there are a lot of issue with what that means. I would have been content with just the Maja story, I ended up totally not understand what the Aya story added to the book. At the beginning of the book, the sentences are sometimes written like poetry, and they're really beautiful. I didn't necessarily understand what was being said, but I would read them a few times because I liked their sound. And then once I saw the context, I would understand what they meant and read them again. I also felt like I understood some of the Santeria/Yoruba gods stuff because I've read a lot about it before, but someone without that background would have been even more confused than I was by that part of the book. The Maja story is going along great, when all of a sudden it turns into... well, it stops making sense. I had NO idea what was happening. Probably no one reading this has also read the book "Come Closer", but that was what it started reminding me of. I was so mad, because I wanted to love this book, and I had been loving parts of it, and I felt like I was probably totally missing something that I should have been understanding. Also, the whole second storyline thing - I'm SURE there is something I missed about that. I mean - why is there this overlapping character who has the same name but seems to be a totally different person? Why is that other story even THERE??? I just suspect I didn't understand something, and that annoyed the hell out of me. But I loved a lot of this book. And I liked the ending of the Maja story - but I'm not sure how she got to it.
What do You think about The Opposite House: A Novel (2007)?
Whilst I have to say this was written well, the words flowed, and was all very descriptive,I had no idea what was going on for a lot of it...I got confused between mami, and her actual name, wondering if they were the same person and if so, why were we going between them??Maja seemed slightly unhinged, and explaining it as the hysterics doesn't quite give any answers, neither did what was going on with Tomas...ultimately,little lacking for me.
—Louise
I thought I was used to Oyeyemi's writing style by now, but I was incredibly confused by this novel. Although I was disappointed with it, so far it's her only novel I've been unsatisfied with.On a random side note - Ibeyi is a group composed of twin sisters that sing in French, Spanish, English and Yoruba. If Helen Oyeyemi made music, I think her sound and visuals would match that of Ibeyi's. If you've never read any of Oyeyemi's books, listening to these sisters may give you a good idea of what to expect.
—Noor
It was hard to rate this book, because I enjoyed it a lot on some levels but felt that it had some significant flaws. Helen Oyeyemi's writing is an unbelievable pleasure. She successfully intermingles the symbolism of a spiritual folk tale with the gritty details of modern urban life and pop culture references. Her portrayal of "the hysteric" that hides within so many young women is spot-on. Her protagonist, Maja, rings very true when she experiences a tumultuous mixture of emotions in dealing with her family, her best friend, and her lover. And yet, the book seemed to be lacking a concrete core. We are made to care about Maja when she is written so beautifully, but her story is not one of action but of introspection. The other characters in the novel -- Maja's parents, her best friend Amy Eleni, her brother, her boyfriend Aaron -- are given unique personalities, but at times it feels like we are only getting a hint of what those characters could become if we saw more of them. And the symbolic scenes set in the somewherehouse, a spiritual place with doors to Lagos and to Cuba (reflecting the complex ethnic background of the narrator, a black Cuban living in exile in London), are difficult to follow and interrupt the main narrative with their symbolism. The somewherehouse scenes set a beautiful tone, and provide a nice juxtaposition with Maja's real life in contemporary London, but I found myself wishing for less of them.I will certainly try reading The Icarus Girl, since it seems to have received more acclaim and I truly enjoyed Ms. Oyeyemi's writing style. But this book might leave other readers behind.
—Laura
