A Spellbinding Tale of Magic and Mystery: White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Ntluckyme: From the get-go I was gripped by the vivid imagery and poetic style of this writer. When her characters were left raw and confused and grappling for reality amidst the mysterious happenings taking place after a great loss, I truly felt it. I read this in one day because I was so spellbound. This being the first book I've read by this author, I will undoubtedly be checking out her other books 👍

United States on Jul 29, 2022

JohannaJohanna: White is for Witching is a novel by Helen Oyeyemi from 2009

where is miranda?

With this sentence we are thrown into the happenings around the Silver House in Dover. And believe me when I say, I went right back to this sentence once I had finished the book – because it is perfectly cyclical. We are introduced to Ore and Eliot, as well as the rather odd concept of “29 barton road”. It took a while for me to understand, that it really is the house talking there. Perspective changes in the text aren’t marked, so it can be confusing at first, who might be talking in a given passage. But I made a game of it and tried to guess it by the first sentence. Usually, it becomes clear sooner or later, though the “I”-perspective of everyone but Miranda doesn’t make it any easier.

Summary

Miri and Eliot are twins, whose mother died recently in Haiti while working. Now they live with their father in the Silver House, which was turned into a B&B. After news of their mother’s death came, something happened that put Miri in a mental health clinic. She has been suffering from pica – an eating disorder, in which people consume things...

Germany on Feb 02, 2022

Markus Zimmerman: Reading the description, this book sounded perfect for me. Sadly, the author doesn’t distinguish between characters at all until you’re well into a chapter. It’s a disjointed mess, and not until the last 10% of the book was it even remotely clear what was happening. It just seemed overly complex to make it seem smarter than it was.

United States on Oct 16, 2021

Kindle Customer: A strange and beautiful book which I will be thinking about for a long time. There's so much in it, so much to consider, to absorb. Magical, spellbinding, I was bewitched.

United Kingdom on Nov 27, 2020

constant reader: ** spoiler alert ** As in many books by Ms. Oyeyemi there is a tangled plot, hero and villain confusion, and a changing set of narrators. In this case, that last is part of the trick. Because you often don't know who is telling the story until well into each narrative. Narrators change within the chapters, and there are at least three here, Miranda's brother, Eliot. Her African-immigrant lover from Cambridge, Ore, and the house she grew up in, 29 Barton Road. Since I'm hiding these spoilers I guess I can tell you that the house is the villain, though she tries to explain herself. She has captured and held (thus virtually killing) several generations of women in Miri's family, and now she's after her next victim. The men are no use at all, cowardly, distracted, sad, and worthless; and witches (who are an interesting red-herring/scare-tactic - maybe) are not the real threat either - maybe.

Helen Oyeyemi is one of my favorite authors. Her writing is beautiful, her stories are original and unpredictable, and her commentary is amazing. So read this book, probably with the lights on all night. Because, you never know when the next scare is about to take hold of...

United States on Oct 28, 2020

Bingereader: I've wanted to read this author for quite a while, but didn't know which book to start with. I am a sucker for houses on book covers and so I decided to start with this one. 'White is for Witching', reminded me a bit of two different books, the first being 'The Fall of the House of Usher' by Edgar Allan Poe and the second being 'Woman in the Walls' by Amy Luckavics.

Let's start with the way the book is written, people have described it be lyrical and I have to agree. There's something soothing about reading a book that flows. Where the words on the page float like in a soft breeze. It's light and ethereal. I did sometimes day dream during the book, but not in a way because I was bored, but in a way where I was picturing the scenes and the scenes after.

The book is about a house on the cliffs of Dover. A family home that has been passed down from mother to daughter in the Silver family. Lily Silver met Luc Dufresne at a Christmas party. They married had twins, a boy Eliot, and a girl Miranda. They moved into Lily's family home and turned it into a bed and breakfast. The family home or estate was quite large and could accommodate a few families at a...

United States on Aug 28, 2020

Asha: great book!

Canada on Sep 19, 2019

andyandy: Great book from Helen oyeyemi

India on Jan 30, 2018

Moleskiner: Versione digitale del romanzo della giovane scrittrice inglese. Purtroppo un po' difficile da tradurre da soli. Edizione e-book perfetta. Ottimo

Italy on May 15, 2017

nicole garcia: I read this book because it popped up numerous times on my Google search of "most disturbing books." I didn't necessarily hate it, but I was pretty disappointed. I gave it 3 stars because it was readable but I felt like it was some sort of inside joke of the author's. I kept waiting for it to get scary because of how many people talked about the book being frightening, but it really didn't inspire any sort of emotion in me other than curiosity and annoyance. I guess I'm curious as to whether or not the Pica was what had people creeped. There was very little character development so there was really no way to get invested into anyone- honestly, I wouldn't have cared if all of the characters had died on page 100. Page 50 would've saved me time. I guess overall I somewhat liked it- I'm just disappointed that it wasn't all that it was built up to be in terms of horror.

United States on Jan 08, 2014