Parasol Against the Axe

The narrator in Oyeyemi’s (Peaces) latest begins with the story of Hero Tojosoa arriving in Prague for an encounter with her old friends and with the damage she inflicted in her past; meanwhile, Hero’s former friend arrives in Prague on a mission to deliver long-delayed justice. But the story is told by the genius loci of the city itself, a meddler who can’t resist setting up the confrontation while captivating Hero through the means of a mythical, ever-changing book whose first chapter shows a different facet of the city and its history every time its pages are opened, in a seemingly never-ending kaleidoscope of history, mystery, and magic. While Hero’s story is one of bad behavior, old friends, regrets, and atonement, the central narrative of Oyeyemi’s novel is the story of Prague itself, past and present, might be and never quite was, told as a story within a story, manipulated by a master storyteller.