Ms. Hen reviews Boy, Snow, Bird

 

Boy, Snow, Bird

Helen Oyeyemi

Riverhead Books 

2014

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel, because one of the books she read recently, THE DOLL'S ALPHABET, had a blurb written by this author. Ms. Hen thoroughly enjoyed that book, and she wanted to read more like that, so she got this one from her library. Ms. Hen is fascinated by fairy tales, and retellings of them in fiction. This seems to be fashionable in literature these days.

This novel is a reimagining of SNOW WHITE, but with a complete do-over. The novel starts with the story of Boy, a young woman who lives in New York with her abusive father. She runs away to a small town in Massachusetts and starts a new life. She lives in a boarding house, and goes on lots of double dates, and eventually ends up with Arturo Whitman, who has a daughter named Snow. They get married and have another daughter whom they name Bird. Bird is born, and she is black.

Boy learns that Arturo's family has been passing for white since they came to the north. Nobody in the town knows this, but they figure it out when they see Bird. Boy is distraught at first by Bird's appearance, but she learns to live with it. The second section of the novel is told by Bird as a thirteen-year old girl. Boy hasn't told anyone in her family much about her past.

Ms. Hen thinks this novel reminds her of other fairy tale inspired books she has read recently, SPINDLE SPLINTERED, and THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY, by the same author, Alix E. Harrow. It also, of course, has remnants of THE DOLL'S ALPHABET, which Ms. Hen has already mentioned.

This novel is surreal, and disjointing. It makes Ms. Hen feel uncomfortable, but she thinks that is the intent. Many characters grace these pages, and Ms. Hen got them confused at times. This is a novel about how difficult it can be to be a woman, and how race is a factor, even when it is hidden.

Ms. Hen enjoyed this novel, and was sad when she finished it. It made her think that there can be more to people than what is known, and a person shouldn't always trust their instincts. Some people can be bad, but they could be more layers to them than what appears. Ms. Hen thinks that most people aren't truly evil, just complicated.