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A review by mimosaeyes
Butterfly Fish by Irenosen Okojie
4.0
A strange (intimate, open-ended yet emotionally satisfying) story told in luscious and intriguing prose. The style is free-wheeling yet controlled, overall, although there are some garden path-esque sentences. It creates an effect where meaning is constantly squirming away from you, and you reach for it willingly, because the meaning when parsed turns out to be consistently nuanced. A joy to read.
I liked that there was a distinctive style difference when the chapters alternated time and place. The parts in historical Benin, in particular, have a storytelling feel; they seem to be begging to be read aloud. Weaving/braiding together the narratives of the characters from three generations of the same family works very well with the magical realism genre, because the storytelling feel bleeds through into the recognisably contemporary world of Joy - already inflected by her mental illness.
Also very much appreciated Okojie's fantastically developed female characters. My favourites were Adesua and Mrs Harris.
I will say that I do not usually appreciate stories that contain sensitive content, but in this case I found it was often necessary to create the texture of the novel: a feeling of ragged survival, sort of. If you're thinking of reading this novel but are in need of trigger warnings first, I've compiled major ones here: I list these plot elements not to sensationalise the novel (because they are portrayed for a reason!) but for your safety.
A last note. Not something Okojie can help, but I do wish her publisher had put a little more effort into getting a good proofer in. There were a lot of punctuation mistakes, especially commas and quotation marks, and typos too; many more of each than usually appear even in contemporary first editions. (I am eagle-eyed and cannot help but notice these things.) It hindered my enjoyment somewhat. Maybe these errors will be fixed in subsequent editions?
I liked that there was a distinctive style difference when the chapters alternated time and place. The parts in historical Benin, in particular, have a storytelling feel; they seem to be begging to be read aloud. Weaving/braiding together the narratives of the characters from three generations of the same family works very well with the magical realism genre, because the storytelling feel bleeds through into the recognisably contemporary world of Joy - already inflected by her mental illness.
Also very much appreciated Okojie's fantastically developed female characters. My favourites were Adesua and Mrs Harris.
I will say that I do not usually appreciate stories that contain sensitive content, but in this case I found it was often necessary to create the texture of the novel: a feeling of ragged survival, sort of. If you're thinking of reading this novel but are in need of trigger warnings first, I've compiled major ones here:
Spoiler
There is a non-graphic suicide attempt (sensitively rendered, I found) right at the start. There is brief dubious consent choking during one sex scene; the choker stops immediately. There is one instance of incestuous rape (father and daughter; he is deluded and thinks she is his wife) resulting in conception and birth. An army general's gay lover, one of the soldiers, is killed for discretion.A last note. Not something Okojie can help, but I do wish her publisher had put a little more effort into getting a good proofer in. There were a lot of punctuation mistakes, especially commas and quotation marks, and typos too; many more of each than usually appear even in contemporary first editions. (I am eagle-eyed and cannot help but notice these things.) It hindered my enjoyment somewhat. Maybe these errors will be fixed in subsequent editions?