![]() ![]() ![]() Oyeyemi ratchets up the horror as Jess begins to fear her jealous friend’s powers of invasion and destruction. ![]() ![]() But who is TillyTilly? A figment of Jess’s feverish brain, her alter ego, the expression of her angry or divided self? Even Jess begins to suspect her friend isn’t real, leading to TillyTilly’s revelation that Jess had a twin sister, Fern, who was stillborn. On a first family visit to Nigeria she meets Titiola-or TillyTilly-a friend who has magic powers but forbids Jess to talk about her: “Can’t you tell that I’m not supposed to be there.” Back home, Jess is first ill, then in difficulties again at school, so is thrilled when TillyTilly reappears, an ally who seems able to sneak invisibly into the homes of her enemies. Oyeyemi drip-feeds her problems: she has trouble eating in front of strangers, is bullied at school, takes refuge in cupboards and often resorts to screaming tantrums. Nervy and alienated, Jessamy finds the world too fast and expectant. Oyeyemi’s much-publicized debut, completed shortly before her 19th birthday, enters the troubled mind of Jessamy Harrison, the “half-and-half” daughter of a Nigerian mother and British father. A mixed-race eight-year-old girl is haunted by her imaginary friend, family secrets and the two cultures she inhabits. ![]()
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