Publication
Thorndike, Maine : Center Point Large Print (2014)
Collection
Call number
Large Print Fiction O
Physical description
365 p.; 23 cm
Status
Available
Call number
Description
From the prizewinning author of Mr. Fox, the Snow White fairy tale brilliantly recast as a story of family secrets, race, beauty, and vanity. In the winter of 1953, Boy Novak arrives by chance in a small town in Massachusetts, looking, she believes, for beauty-- the opposite of the life she's left behind in New York. She marries a local widower and becomes stepmother to his winsome daughter, Snow Whitman. A wicked stepmother is a creature Boy never imagined she' d become, but elements of the familiar tale of aesthetic obsession begin to play themselves out when the birth of Boy' s daughter, Bird, who is dark-skinned, exposes the Whitmans as light-skinned African Americans passing for white. Among them, Boy, Snow, and Bird confront the tyranny of the mirror to ask how much power surfaces really hold. Dazzlingly inventive and powerfully moving, Boy, Snow, Bird is an astonishing and enchanting novel. With breathtaking feats of imagination, Helen Oyeyemi confirms her place as one of the most original and dynamic literary voices of our time.… (more)
Media reviews
I have mixed feelings about Boy, Snow, Bird. But I do have to say that my opinion sways heavily toward the positive! I’ve never read anything by Oyeyemi before, though Mr Fox has been on my book depository wishlist for a while now, and I found her writing style to mesh really well with my
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tastes.
That’s a little bit of a weird thing to say, and I realize that. I’ll say it in a different way that might be more relatable: this book definitely had the potential to become one of my favorites. I really thought that’s where it was heading – Oyeyemi really knows how to write.
Boy, Snow, Bird is, among other things, a historical narrative that deeply explores race, discrimination, and passing. These elements also help solidify the book’s connections to the Snow White fairy tale. The beginning of the book is narrated by a blonde white woman named Boy, so these elements of the plot are introduced with a light emphasis through her, but they become a huge focus later on. I thought this was an interesting way to draw in the common reader, who may not have picked up this book if it were marketed differently.
Through Boy, the reader develops empathy and then when her life gets tangled in racial discourse, there’s more outrage than would have been there with a POC narrator. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member kylekatz
This lively, but somewhat slight, allegory of race, trauma and family, is seriously marred by a lurid plot twist that reeks of transphobia. (FoK)
LibraryThing member lvmygrdn
I received this book from the Early Reviewers Giveaway.
There seems to be a lot of hype with this book. I read the glowing reviews. It is well written but I didn't like the story. I think comparing it to Snow White is far fetched.
There seems to be a lot of hype with this book. I read the glowing reviews. It is well written but I didn't like the story. I think comparing it to Snow White is far fetched.
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
I think the book started in the 1930s. Boy is a girl who was raised by her abusive father; her mother wasn’t around. She doesn’t leave until she is 20ish, when she hops on a bus to take her anywhere else. She ends up in a small town and tries her best to fit in. She does marry and inherits a
This was told mostly by Boy’s point of view, but the middle section is from Bird’s point of view when she’s 13. It was… different. I’m rating it ok, as some parts of it were interesting, but some of it wasn’t. It started off really promising, when Boy was younger, and I probably found that the most interesting part of the book. It wasn’t a long book, so it didn’t take long to read. It was hard keeping track of some of the characters. I skimmed over some of the long paragraphs. At first, I enjoyed the letters between the two sisters, but then they got wordy and talked about things I really didn’t care about… things that I’m not sure really meant anything to the story. Boy made some odd decisions/choices and I didn’t like her much of the time.
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stepdaughter, Snow. Boy later has a daughter of her own named Bird. This was told mostly by Boy’s point of view, but the middle section is from Bird’s point of view when she’s 13. It was… different. I’m rating it ok, as some parts of it were interesting, but some of it wasn’t. It started off really promising, when Boy was younger, and I probably found that the most interesting part of the book. It wasn’t a long book, so it didn’t take long to read. It was hard keeping track of some of the characters. I skimmed over some of the long paragraphs. At first, I enjoyed the letters between the two sisters, but then they got wordy and talked about things I really didn’t care about… things that I’m not sure really meant anything to the story. Boy made some odd decisions/choices and I didn’t like her much of the time.
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LibraryThing member sunqueen
This was a strange book that didn't live up to its description or hype. As per the cover indicating "re-telling of Snow White", well..... it really wasn't. I think the magicial realism that exits in the story was overplayed, and didn't have the character developement or plot line to make it work.
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It's too bad, because Oyeyemi has great potential and talent. It just didn't come togther here. Show Less
LibraryThing member jlafleur
I also received this book as a LibraryThing early reviewer. It will be interesting to see how it fares in the market. I predict it will do fairly well despite its significant flaws. Exploring the story of a mid-century black family with members trying to "pass" as white seemed like an interesting
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idea for a novel. Unfortunately, that topic is left unfulfilled by both the plot and the characters. In addition, there is a completely irrelevant shocking exposition at the very end of the novel which adds nothing to the story and feels very contrived. The second star is only for the prose. It is interesting how outmoded these attitudes seem in today's society. Show Less
LibraryThing member cameling
Finally leaving her abusive rat-catching father, Boy flees north to a small Massachusetts suburb and starts to build her own life. She meets and eventually marries Arturo who has a daughter, Snow. It is only when Boy and Arturo have their own daughter, Bird, that Boy realizes that Arturo and Snow
At times lyrical and at times syncopated, this was not an easy book to get into and I just wanted to get to the end so I could be done with it. A shame really because there are some passages that the author's talents flashed brilliantly through. I just wish she could have carried it throughout the book.
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are actually very light-skinned African-Americans passing themselves off as white people. Her reaction and the way she treats Bird and Snow is unsettling and raises questions on racial identity and the perception of beauty. At times lyrical and at times syncopated, this was not an easy book to get into and I just wanted to get to the end so I could be done with it. A shame really because there are some passages that the author's talents flashed brilliantly through. I just wish she could have carried it throughout the book.
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LibraryThing member morningwalker
I'm very mixed on my feelings for this book. From the beginning I just wasn't able to get a sense of the time period or the setting. I didn't feel like the characters were true to the 1950s. I didn't believe that Boy could just get on a bus and find a place to live and immediately fit into a
The second part told from Bird's perspective was much easier to believe and the letter writing between Snow and Bird gave more insight into the characters. I liked Bird and her inquisitiveness and her spunk. This book dealt with so many societal and family issues that at times I felt dizzy trying to sort them all out.
The last part of the book throws in a final twist that I don't think any reader would see coming. And then it ends abruptly and I'm not sure what direction any of the characters take. With all that said, after a struggle in the beginning, I think I liked it, I wanted to finish it, but there just seemed to be too many elements missing to say I loved it.
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well-to-do society. I couldn't believe Boy would just so willingly accept that her baby was born black. Too much was glossed over . Also, it wasn't that I didn't like Boy, I just didn't care about her one way or another. Too many details just seemed to be left out, or flat in the beginning. The second part told from Bird's perspective was much easier to believe and the letter writing between Snow and Bird gave more insight into the characters. I liked Bird and her inquisitiveness and her spunk. This book dealt with so many societal and family issues that at times I felt dizzy trying to sort them all out.
The last part of the book throws in a final twist that I don't think any reader would see coming. And then it ends abruptly and I'm not sure what direction any of the characters take. With all that said, after a struggle in the beginning, I think I liked it, I wanted to finish it, but there just seemed to be too many elements missing to say I loved it.
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LibraryThing member Hccpsk
I received this book from the Early Reviewers program. I am going to agree with many of the previously posted reviews by saying that Oyeyemi is a remarkably talented writer who grapples with complex subjects with mixed results. For me much of the book was successful and enjoyable, but sometimes the
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themes overtook the story and character and it became too muddled. I think that Oyeyemi’s incredible style and fearless ideas make this book worth the effort. Show Less
LibraryThing member suballa
A loose retelling of the story of Snow White, Boy, Snow, Bird deals with the issues of jealousy, race, family, and identity. Set in Massachusetts during the pre-civil rights era, Boy Novak Whitman is surprised when her newborn daughter, Bird, is born with dark skin. Unbeknownst to Boy, her husband
Told through the voices of more than one of the complex characters in this novel, Boy, Snow, Bird is a great choice for book groups and anyone who likes multilayered fiction. You won’t be bombarded with parallels to Snow White’s story, but you will catch a glimpse of her from time to time.
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Arturo and stepdaughter Snow, as well as most of his family, are African Americans passing for white. Aware of society’s, and her in laws’, idea of beauty leads to Boy’s jealousy and resentment of light skinned Snow and an evil stepmother is born.Told through the voices of more than one of the complex characters in this novel, Boy, Snow, Bird is a great choice for book groups and anyone who likes multilayered fiction. You won’t be bombarded with parallels to Snow White’s story, but you will catch a glimpse of her from time to time.
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LibraryThing member sparemethecensor
The first third or so of this book, I was enthralled. I've read two of Oyeyemi's previous novels, and I thought the first third really capitalized on what was good about those books (great writing, beautiful imagery, a keen understanding of human frailty) while reducing the problems (unbalanced
Unfortunately, this book falls into many of the same traps as it goes along. The story has a very ethereal, almost magical realism feel to it, but there actually isn't any magical realism. The time also feels odd: while the book is set in the 1950s, none of the dialogue sounds like it's from that era, and the trappings of it (segregated schools and bathrooms, for instance) are inconsistent.
Perhaps the most glaring issue is that the book has two narrators separated by decade, generation, race, and upbringing, who sound exactly alike. Boy and Bird are utterly indistinguishable. I find Oyeyemi's writing beautiful, but it doesn't make sense for them to sound the same.
Another valiant effort, and worth the read, but a stronger guiding hand of an editor could have really helped pull this together.
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magical realism, rabbit hole plot lines). I was sold. "Finally," I thought, "she's come into her own!"Unfortunately, this book falls into many of the same traps as it goes along. The story has a very ethereal, almost magical realism feel to it, but there actually isn't any magical realism. The time also feels odd: while the book is set in the 1950s, none of the dialogue sounds like it's from that era, and the trappings of it (segregated schools and bathrooms, for instance) are inconsistent.
Perhaps the most glaring issue is that the book has two narrators separated by decade, generation, race, and upbringing, who sound exactly alike. Boy and Bird are utterly indistinguishable. I find Oyeyemi's writing beautiful, but it doesn't make sense for them to sound the same.
Another valiant effort, and worth the read, but a stronger guiding hand of an editor could have really helped pull this together.
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LibraryThing member Loried
This book deals with some interesting issues which I feel would spoil the book if I revealed them. I know they have been referenced by other reviewers, but I consider them spoilers. In fact, I was so glad that I waited until I finished the book before reading the back cover, because it would have
Although this was a compelling read, I never understood the protagonist’s motivation in one of the key points of the book. At that point, the book shifted to be written from her daughter’s point of view, and I was left unsatisfied. A similar thing happened at the end of the book. I was intrigued by what was going to happen, but the book ended without revealing the resolution. Although the story had a lot of potential, I was disappointed that I felt I understood the motivation of minor characters more than I did the major ones. Despite this, I think that this book could provide a great inspiration for an interesting book discussion.
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ruined one of the big surprises that took place half way through the book.Although this was a compelling read, I never understood the protagonist’s motivation in one of the key points of the book. At that point, the book shifted to be written from her daughter’s point of view, and I was left unsatisfied. A similar thing happened at the end of the book. I was intrigued by what was going to happen, but the book ended without revealing the resolution. Although the story had a lot of potential, I was disappointed that I felt I understood the motivation of minor characters more than I did the major ones. Despite this, I think that this book could provide a great inspiration for an interesting book discussion.
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LibraryThing member astridnr
Boy, Snow, Bird is one of those books that leaves you speechless. The characters are strange and somewhat twisted. I was intrigued by it, but I am not sure what to make of it. There are a number of themes covered. A whole family living in Massachusetts passing for white until a granddaughter, Bird,
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is born and is dark skinned. There is some violence, which I found disturbing. Boy, who is really a girl, escapes from an abusive relationship with her father and ends up living in a small town in Massachusetts called Flax Hill. Here she marries a widower and has his child. In a way the story is a modern day version of the Snow White story. There are many references to mirrors and what they reflect or do not reflect. The elements of magical realism are artfully presented. Show Less
LibraryThing member LoveAtFirstBook
I received this book from the amazing LibraryThing in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi is kind of like a modern day Snow White, but with lots of alterations. The story is told mainly by Boy, who is actually a girl, who escapes from an abusive father and makes
Boy, Snow, Bird is unique. It's part Snow White, part family secret, but it's all worth the read.
Have you read any books that have part of a familiar tale woven in?
Thanks for reading,
Rebecca @ Love at First Book
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi is kind of like a modern day Snow White, but with lots of alterations. The story is told mainly by Boy, who is actually a girl, who escapes from an abusive father and makes
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a new life in a small town in Massachusetts. Boy marries and inherits a stepdaughter, Snow, who is pretty much the most perfect person ever. But when Boy and her husband have a child of their own, a family secret is revealed that causes many of the family relationships to be strained. Boy, Snow, Bird is unique. It's part Snow White, part family secret, but it's all worth the read.
Have you read any books that have part of a familiar tale woven in?
Thanks for reading,
Rebecca @ Love at First Book
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LibraryThing member hairball
I could not pull myself away from this book, and when it ended, I wasn't ready, but it also ended at the correct place/time--no quibbles there.
Oyeyemi weaves in the (obvious--in that they're obviously going to be part of the narrative) questions of race, gender, and identity with fairy tales other
This isn't helpful as a review. I love this book. I think it's going to be one of the best books of the year. It says important things on important subjects without beating one over the head with the -ism stick. Young girls and women of all ages should read it. I will read it again.
Oyeyemi weaves in the (obvious--in that they're obviously going to be part of the narrative) questions of race, gender, and identity with fairy tales other
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than the overriding Disney "plot" (which would've been unbearable). This book has so many layers. If it were an actual piece of weaving, it would be a damask or jacquard, all complex patterns and many threads.This isn't helpful as a review. I love this book. I think it's going to be one of the best books of the year. It says important things on important subjects without beating one over the head with the -ism stick. Young girls and women of all ages should read it. I will read it again.
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LibraryThing member jules72653
Characters weren't particularly likable and the middle part of the book drug the story down as the voice changed. The twist at the end was a nice surprise and it had me wondering what would happen next.
LibraryThing member melaniehope
The story and writing were good. I gave it three stars because I liked it, but was not wowed by it all.
The plot is very interesting. The book is divided into three sections. The first is told by Boy's point of view, then the middle is told from her daughter, Bird's view point and it ends again with
Boy is actually a girl who runs away from her abuse father whom she refers to as the Rat catcher, which is really his job description. Boy winds up in Flax Hill, MA and eventually marries Arturo. Boy becomes step mother to Snow, his beautiful, charming daughter by his first wife. Once Bird is born, it becomes apparent that Arturo and his family are actually light skinned blacks who have been secretly passing themselves off as white.
What follows is a unique story about Boy, Snow and Bird. It was surprising the discover more family dynamics as the book went on. A big surprise awaits that I found a bit farfetched for this kind of novel and it would have been nice to have a section of the book be dedicated to Snow's voice besides her letter writing. Overall, a good book. I received a complimentary copy as part of the Librarything Early reviewers.
The plot is very interesting. The book is divided into three sections. The first is told by Boy's point of view, then the middle is told from her daughter, Bird's view point and it ends again with
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Boy.Boy is actually a girl who runs away from her abuse father whom she refers to as the Rat catcher, which is really his job description. Boy winds up in Flax Hill, MA and eventually marries Arturo. Boy becomes step mother to Snow, his beautiful, charming daughter by his first wife. Once Bird is born, it becomes apparent that Arturo and his family are actually light skinned blacks who have been secretly passing themselves off as white.
What follows is a unique story about Boy, Snow and Bird. It was surprising the discover more family dynamics as the book went on. A big surprise awaits that I found a bit farfetched for this kind of novel and it would have been nice to have a section of the book be dedicated to Snow's voice besides her letter writing. Overall, a good book. I received a complimentary copy as part of the Librarything Early reviewers.
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LibraryThing member eachurch
Oyeyemi has written an extraordinary exploration of race and the perils of passing, the effects of beauty on the holder and beholder, and the ways different forms of violence can damage both the perpetuator and the victim. The language and imagery that she uses are compelling and the twist at the
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end, even though it was surprising, makes sense. The only thing that prevented it from being truly marvelous was the first part of the second section which I found jarring. I did, however, love the way she used letters throughout the novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member msbaba
“Boy, Snow, Bird,” by Helen Oyeyemi, is a dark and disturbing novel about self-identity in a complex world simmering with prejudice and misery. The author’s highly stylized prose is unique, stunning, and brilliantly imaginative. The book is full of inventive, dazzling, and lyrical surprises.
But this otherwise outstanding book failed me in a significant way. Despite the author’s remarkable and obvious literary talents, I felt emotionally detached from the disturbing subject as well as from the characters. This was a novel that appealed mainly to the intellect rather than the heart. This is primarily why I hesitated and did not give this work five stars. I wanted more of an emotional connection with the characters.
There are three main characters: Boy, Snow, and Bird. Boy is a beautiful, but emotionally damaged woman, the odd survivor of a bizarre abusive childhood. After developing into a ravishing twenty-year-old platinum blond, she manages to escape her dehumanizing family situation and flees to a small town in New England. There she makes a life for herself, meets a young widower, and marries him despite the fact that she is not in love. Boy values freedom too much to allow love to enter her heart. She has never known love; how can she give it?
Snow Whitman is Boy’s husband’s six-year-old daughter. Boy is both strongly attracted and terrified by this child. Snow is arrestingly beautiful. She is the type of child everyone idolizes and desires, the type of child that has the world at her beck and call. Soon after Boy marries, she becomes pregnant and gives birth to a daughter named Bird. The new baby is black. As a consequence, Boy discovers that her husband and many of the other people she has come to know as family and friends are actually all white-skinned blacks who have long been passing for whites. What should Boy do with Bird? What should she do with Snow? She feels ensnared in an environment that worships whiteness. She fears Bird will be psychologically damaged if she is allowed to grow up in a black world dominated by an idolized white child. Can the issue of Bird in their lives force the family to abandon its long-held deceit? How will this all play out?
The book has such a large cast of secondary characters that I often found it difficult to keep track of them. If you read a digital version, you can always run a search on any name to help refresh your memory about any character and how he or she relates to the plot. However, if you read this book in print, I recommend that you take careful notes to aid your memory; you’ll need them. The book also contains a lot of unfamiliar black cultural references that you may need to look up on the Internet. This helped me in understanding what was going on, so I again recommend that you take the time to do this if any terms are unfamiliar to you. A lot of the new terms have to do with global ethnic fairy tale motifs.
This novel is complex. It can be difficult and confusing to read. However, as challenging as it is, it is also rewarding and well worth the effort.
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The tale teems with well-known, as well as quite obscure, fairy tale motifs. The author also enchants by sprinkling magical realism in odd places here and there in the mists of the plot’s everyday reality. The realistic and the magical worlds collide and play off against one another adding emphasis and making the realism appear just that much more grotesque. At times the book reads like a strange brew of marvelous modern macabre. But this otherwise outstanding book failed me in a significant way. Despite the author’s remarkable and obvious literary talents, I felt emotionally detached from the disturbing subject as well as from the characters. This was a novel that appealed mainly to the intellect rather than the heart. This is primarily why I hesitated and did not give this work five stars. I wanted more of an emotional connection with the characters.
There are three main characters: Boy, Snow, and Bird. Boy is a beautiful, but emotionally damaged woman, the odd survivor of a bizarre abusive childhood. After developing into a ravishing twenty-year-old platinum blond, she manages to escape her dehumanizing family situation and flees to a small town in New England. There she makes a life for herself, meets a young widower, and marries him despite the fact that she is not in love. Boy values freedom too much to allow love to enter her heart. She has never known love; how can she give it?
Snow Whitman is Boy’s husband’s six-year-old daughter. Boy is both strongly attracted and terrified by this child. Snow is arrestingly beautiful. She is the type of child everyone idolizes and desires, the type of child that has the world at her beck and call. Soon after Boy marries, she becomes pregnant and gives birth to a daughter named Bird. The new baby is black. As a consequence, Boy discovers that her husband and many of the other people she has come to know as family and friends are actually all white-skinned blacks who have long been passing for whites. What should Boy do with Bird? What should she do with Snow? She feels ensnared in an environment that worships whiteness. She fears Bird will be psychologically damaged if she is allowed to grow up in a black world dominated by an idolized white child. Can the issue of Bird in their lives force the family to abandon its long-held deceit? How will this all play out?
The book has such a large cast of secondary characters that I often found it difficult to keep track of them. If you read a digital version, you can always run a search on any name to help refresh your memory about any character and how he or she relates to the plot. However, if you read this book in print, I recommend that you take careful notes to aid your memory; you’ll need them. The book also contains a lot of unfamiliar black cultural references that you may need to look up on the Internet. This helped me in understanding what was going on, so I again recommend that you take the time to do this if any terms are unfamiliar to you. A lot of the new terms have to do with global ethnic fairy tale motifs.
This novel is complex. It can be difficult and confusing to read. However, as challenging as it is, it is also rewarding and well worth the effort.
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LibraryThing member Dabble58
Boy, Snow, Bird is one of those books you read swiftly, delighting in the language, the story, the characters, and then you spend the next several days chewing though it, sorting it out in your mind.
I loved it. I questioned it. I disliked it.
All by turns.
I don't want to spoil it, but suffice to
Well worth a read.
I loved it. I questioned it. I disliked it.
All by turns.
I don't want to spoil it, but suffice to
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say the character motivations were well-hidden. Racism, family secrets, the desire to belong all figure large, and the story makes me sad for all of those who feel they cannot be as they are.Well worth a read.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
Oyeyemi has created a book that combines reality with fairy tales and at times, they clash and at times they meld together. It is difficult to discuss this book without giving away key elements of the novel. An abusive parent forces Boy to flee New York City for the small town of Flax Hill in New
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England. Read with an open mind being aware continually that truth shifts and nothing is as it seems. This original story will stay will you after you’ve read it, for you’ll be thinking of all the threads that ravel in this story of very original characters Show Less
LibraryThing member Carmenere
Disclaimer: I chose this novel from the library because the title intrigued me. After I brought it home I noticed my library classified it as "Fantasy". This threw me off and, as I read, I began trying to discover why it was categorized as such.
So, this is the story of a woman named Boy. She
I could see small amounts of magical realism in Oyeyemi's writing but not on the level of other authors who use this device. Oyeyemi is better at drawing a picture of life in the 1940's and '60's, the prejudices of the time and what people felt they had to do to live a better life.
If the story seems to drag for you, I recommend completing it and waiting for the big reveal near the conclusion.
So, this is the story of a woman named Boy. She
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grows up in a single parent household. At times her father is abusive and gruff. He seems to appreciate the rats he keeps and uses for his job more so than his daughter who seems like a burden. When Boy is 19 she decides to flee from a dismal life with her father, hops a bus and takes it from Brooklyn to the end of the line....a small town in Massachusetts. Here she makes a new life for herself and starts a family of her own with her husband, Arturo, and his daughter, Snow. When they have there own child, Bird, well, Arturo has some explaining to do. The decision Boy makes has life altering implications for everyone.I could see small amounts of magical realism in Oyeyemi's writing but not on the level of other authors who use this device. Oyeyemi is better at drawing a picture of life in the 1940's and '60's, the prejudices of the time and what people felt they had to do to live a better life.
If the story seems to drag for you, I recommend completing it and waiting for the big reveal near the conclusion.
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LibraryThing member amandacb
I wanted to like this, I really did, especially since I received it as an Early Reviewers novel. However, I could not get past the self-involved drivel of the main character, Boy, nor could I get past a woman named Boy, however superficial of me that may be. The setting also does not lend itself to
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a woman named Boy, so it felt extremely contrived. It is supposed to be a modern retelling of Snow White but I did not get that AT ALL. Very disappointed. Show Less
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
Heather Reisman of the Chapters Indigo bookchain picked this book to recommend a few months ago and the description really intrigued me. Without even reading it I suggested it to my book club as a book for the fall. I really hope it makes it onto the list because this is one book that you want to
Boy, despite the name, is a beautiful blonde girl raised by her father Frank in a poor area of New York. Frank is a rat-catcher and an abuser. Boy runs away from home as soon as she can because she is afraid the next time he is going to kill her. She takes the bus to Flax Hill, a town of artists and artisans in New England. When Arturo Whitman asks her to marry him she agrees although she doesn't really love Arturo. But she does love his daughter Snow and wants to be near her. With the birth of her own daughter she discovers the Whitman family secret which is that they are passing for white. The daughter, Bird, is unquestionably coloured. Boy is shocked and mistrustful and hurt. Perhaps that is why she does what she does. If you want to find out what she does read the book yourself and then let me know what you think. There is more than a hint of the fairy tale Snow White in this book but that is all I'm going to say.
Helen Oyeyemi thanks Marina Endicott at the end of this book so that intrigued me because I wondered what the connection was. Praise be to Google I found an interview where she was asked this question. It turns out they met at a Literary Festival in Australia and they have the same agent. Their agent predicted that they would like one another and they did.
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discuss with other people.Boy, despite the name, is a beautiful blonde girl raised by her father Frank in a poor area of New York. Frank is a rat-catcher and an abuser. Boy runs away from home as soon as she can because she is afraid the next time he is going to kill her. She takes the bus to Flax Hill, a town of artists and artisans in New England. When Arturo Whitman asks her to marry him she agrees although she doesn't really love Arturo. But she does love his daughter Snow and wants to be near her. With the birth of her own daughter she discovers the Whitman family secret which is that they are passing for white. The daughter, Bird, is unquestionably coloured. Boy is shocked and mistrustful and hurt. Perhaps that is why she does what she does. If you want to find out what she does read the book yourself and then let me know what you think. There is more than a hint of the fairy tale Snow White in this book but that is all I'm going to say.
Helen Oyeyemi thanks Marina Endicott at the end of this book so that intrigued me because I wondered what the connection was. Praise be to Google I found an interview where she was asked this question. It turns out they met at a Literary Festival in Australia and they have the same agent. Their agent predicted that they would like one another and they did.
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LibraryThing member WorldforReading
I picked up Boy, Snow, Bird for a variety of reasons: I had heard positive buzz about it, I'm been reading more literary fiction, I'd made a decision to seek out more authors of color, and if there's one thing I love it's a good fairytale retelling. Whatever my reasons, I'm so glad I read this
I loved this novel down to its sentences and the wry humor they frequently conveyed. One example:
"I couldn't make up my mind whether the baby was male or female; the only certainties were near baldness and incandescent rage. The kid didn't like its blanket, or its rattle, or the lap it was sat on, or the world…the time had come to demand quality."
The characters are far from the stereotypical archetypes that can be found in the Snow White tale. Boy, the evil stepmother of the story, is a damaged individual with a strong capacity for love who wants to protect her daughter at any cost. Snow, initially the sheltered favorite of her extended family, is sent away to her relatives in the south and faces the reality of racism and segregation. Bird, Boy's daughter and the second POV, shows wit and inquisitiveness as she pursues answers to the question of her exiled half-sister. These characters, plus a hint of magical realism in the use of mirrors, made for an enriching read.
A caveat: I found a revelation at the end of the novel to be problematic. For the sake of a spoiler free review I won't go into details, but I will say that though I see how this reveal/explanation fit thematically, on a representational basis it's troubling, even filtered through Boy's POV. I welcome discussion of this point.
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book. I cannot praise it enough. The writing is beautiful, the characters are multidimensional and portrayed with empathy, the POVs are distinctive, and the themes of race, beauty, and identity, are explored in depth. I loved this novel down to its sentences and the wry humor they frequently conveyed. One example:
"I couldn't make up my mind whether the baby was male or female; the only certainties were near baldness and incandescent rage. The kid didn't like its blanket, or its rattle, or the lap it was sat on, or the world…the time had come to demand quality."
The characters are far from the stereotypical archetypes that can be found in the Snow White tale. Boy, the evil stepmother of the story, is a damaged individual with a strong capacity for love who wants to protect her daughter at any cost. Snow, initially the sheltered favorite of her extended family, is sent away to her relatives in the south and faces the reality of racism and segregation. Bird, Boy's daughter and the second POV, shows wit and inquisitiveness as she pursues answers to the question of her exiled half-sister. These characters, plus a hint of magical realism in the use of mirrors, made for an enriching read.
A caveat: I found a revelation at the end of the novel to be problematic. For the sake of a spoiler free review I won't go into details, but I will say that though I see how this reveal/explanation fit thematically, on a representational basis it's troubling, even filtered through Boy's POV. I welcome discussion of this point.
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LibraryThing member W.MdO
This book crept up on me. At some points during reading it I definitely felt that the author's plan was for her readers to feel a little bit crazy. Boy, Snow, and Bird are the three female protagonists (or maybe antagonists- I never fully worked that out), but race, gender, and identity are the
Boy, who tells the majority of the story, is the product of an abusive childhood and seems to have a pretty great track record of sublimation in her own right. She runs away from NYC to the artsy Boston suburb of Flax Hill in an attempt to make a new life for herself, but even as she escapes the secrets of her youth she walks into what seem to be even deeper secrets (cue the whole passing/sublimation issue.) There is a healthy dose of magical realism in the relationship that develops between Boy and her stepdaughter Snow, in which Boy totally pulls an evil stepmother move. The birth of Boy's natural daughter Bird exposes said family secrets, and Bird has her own MR moments: she's an expert mimic (magic or genetic inheritance?), she and Snow occasionally don't appear in mirrors (more of the obvious Snow White stuff), and she has an interesting affinity with spiders.
I haven't decided how I feel about the twist at the end. Did it wrap things up too neatly? Maybe. It did provide me with a strange sense of relief, which is weird because the end is possibly more unsettling than the rest of the book. The whole narrative tone of the book changes for a brief period too, which threw me off a bit, too.
But then I wonder, is the end really unsettling or just jarring? Can the gender issues surrounding Boy's parentage even compete with the race issues, an attempt on the author's part to be shocking and therefore a huge cop out? In the end I think the gender issues are actually hugely important, but they were thrown out so quickly that they were left under-explored, especially after how deeply the race issues were addressed.
If I were the kind of reader who re-reads books this is one I'd want to take another swing at- I have a feeling there were a lot of things I missed on the first read.
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real driving forces. As I read this novel I did lots of Googling to try to learn more about the history of blacks passing as white in America, as this is ostensibly the main plot line of Boy, Snow, Bird. The black characters who attempt to pass (until they are unequivocally exposed) have to sublimate of all hints of their heritage in order to gain white privilege, leading to a generous amount of self-loathing.Boy, who tells the majority of the story, is the product of an abusive childhood and seems to have a pretty great track record of sublimation in her own right. She runs away from NYC to the artsy Boston suburb of Flax Hill in an attempt to make a new life for herself, but even as she escapes the secrets of her youth she walks into what seem to be even deeper secrets (cue the whole passing/sublimation issue.) There is a healthy dose of magical realism in the relationship that develops between Boy and her stepdaughter Snow, in which Boy totally pulls an evil stepmother move. The birth of Boy's natural daughter Bird exposes said family secrets, and Bird has her own MR moments: she's an expert mimic (magic or genetic inheritance?), she and Snow occasionally don't appear in mirrors (more of the obvious Snow White stuff), and she has an interesting affinity with spiders.
I haven't decided how I feel about the twist at the end. Did it wrap things up too neatly? Maybe. It did provide me with a strange sense of relief, which is weird because the end is possibly more unsettling than the rest of the book. The whole narrative tone of the book changes for a brief period too, which threw me off a bit, too.
But then I wonder, is the end really unsettling or just jarring? Can the gender issues surrounding Boy's parentage even compete with the race issues, an attempt on the author's part to be shocking and therefore a huge cop out? In the end I think the gender issues are actually hugely important, but they were thrown out so quickly that they were left under-explored, especially after how deeply the race issues were addressed.
If I were the kind of reader who re-reads books this is one I'd want to take another swing at- I have a feeling there were a lot of things I missed on the first read.
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Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2016)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 2014)
CBC Bookie Awards (Nominee — 2015)
Paterson Fiction Prize (Finalist — 2015)
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year (Fiction — 2014)
NPR: Books We Love (2014)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2014)
The A.V. Club best books (2014)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (Fiction — 2014)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Fiction — 2014)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2014-03-06
ISBN
9781628991604