![]() ![]() There is always a good reason for everything Helen Oyeyemi writes, so I will not try to pick the lock on her book and analyze her plot and themes and imagery to death. And in the final story, one character forces open a locked diary and regrets it, as the reader always knew she would, because the warning was right there in the title: “If a Book Is Locked There’s Probably a Good Reason For That Don’t You Think.” The lovers may or may not reconcile, the spell may or may not be successful, the arsonist may or may not escape his prison.īut the stories suggest that we may not want to try to unlock their secrets. Stubbornly, Oyeyemi’s plots remained locked up as well: They resist resolution, and they keep their secrets to themselves. ![]() In “‘Sorry’ Doesn’t Sweeten Her Tea” (take a second to deal with how perfect that title is, it’s fine, I can wait), the narrator stays in a house called The House of Locks, whose doors swing open unless they are firmly locked. In “Books and Roses,” two women are each gifted with a mysterious key that draws them to one another: One key leads to a secret rose garden, the other to a secret library that connects to the garden through a passage. But what really unites the book is the repeated image of a key in a lock, and the question of whether it is better to unlock a mystery or to leave it unresolved. The stories of this collection are all loosely connected, with characters weaving in and out of the narrative as it suits them. ![]() Vox-mark vox-mark vox-mark vox-mark vox-mark ![]()
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