'Stop looking to belong, half-and-half child. Stop. There is nothing, there is only me, and I have caught you.' Jessamy Harrison is eight years old. Sensitive, whimsical, possessed of an extraordinary and powerful imagination, she spends hours writing haikus, reading Shakespeare, or simply hiding in the dark warmth of the airing cupboard. Sometimes, when the world becomes too much for her, she can only scream and scream. Her South London schoolmates are wary of her precocious intelligence, and as the half-and-half child of English and Nigerian parents she doesn't belong. Taken to her mother's family compound in Nigeria for the first time, she meets her uncles and aunts and cousins - and her formidable old grandfather. Then one day, in the deserted servants' home, she encounters Titiola, a ragged little girl her own age. At last she has found a friend, someone she can play with, who understands her. But what is it that sly, capricious TillyTilly is seeking in return? What is the secret that TillyTilly is hiding from her? And why can no-one else see her new friend? As the bond between the two girls grows, Jess watches powerless as those around her begin to get hurt, and she begins to wonder if TillyTilly is as harmless as she looks. Lyrical, poetic and compelling, The Icarus Girl is a novel of twins, doubles and ghosts, of a little girl growing up between cultures and colours. It heralds the arrival of a remarkable new talent.
""The Icarus Girl is an astonishing achievement." --"Sunday Telegraph (London)
Jessamy "Jess" Harrison is eight years old. Sensitive, whimsical, possessed of an extraordinary and powerful imagination, she spends hours writing haiku, reading Shakespeare, or simply hiding in the dark warmth of the airing cupboard. As the child of an English father and a Nigerian mother, Jess just can't shake off the feeling of being alone wherever she goes, and the other kids in her class are wary of her tendency to succumb to terrified fits of screaming. Believing that a change from her English environment might be the perfect antidote to Jess's alarming mood swings, her parents whisk her off to Nigeria for the first time where she meets her mother's family--including her formidable grandfather.
Jess's adjustment to Nigeria is only beginning when she encounters Titiola, or TillyTilly, a ragged little girl her own age. To Jess, it seems that, at last, she has found someone who will understand her. But gradually, TillyTilly's visits become more disturbing, making Jess start to realize that she doesn't know who TillyTilly is at all.
Lyrical, haunting, and compelling, "The Icarus Girl draws on Nigerian mythology to present a strikingly original variation on a classic literary theme: the existence of "doubles," both real and spiritual, who play havoc with our perceptions and our lives. A story of twins and ghosts, of a little girl growing up between cultures and colors, this book heralds the arrival of a remarkable new talent.
