We’re back with some more Helen Oyeyemi (see Boy, Snow, Bird and Ginger Bread) with 2009’s White is for Witching as I move throug the rest of her output (some of which I read before I started these little web entries).
Oyeyemi is, in my opinion, at her best when she is leaning into creepy … and, boy, does White is for Witching lean that way. The evil in the story is a literal house; the protagonists are its inhabitants, most significantly the third generation of a haunted family.
It is a lovely, strikingly haunting, eerie novel full of scenes that may, if you’re unlucky, revisit you in your dreams. Themes that wind through a lot of Oyeyemi’s work–race and how it manifests in diverse ways; sexuality and its repression; how gender shapes social interaction–are present here, and ultimately your enjoyment of the novel will depend on how successfully you think she balances the horror narrative and those other interests.
For me, it is easily one of her finer achievements, a book that will remain with you long after you hit the last page.