“It’s missing whatever additive makes Harriet’s gingerbread so addictive” – Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

"The gingerbread itself, as a metaphor (for too many things, perhaps), becomes wearying; it’s both over-used (nobody shuts up about it) and underutilised (the plot would be unaffected by its absence or replacement). More problematic, though, is the book’s structure: it meanders and drifts, much as if its final printed form was little changed from its author’s initial draft: a third could have been cut – the sentences tightened, the plotting made taut – and it would not have lost its otherworldliness, but it might have gained a productive tension" - Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi reviewed by Valerie O'Riordan

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