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The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi

In The Icarus Girl, Jessamy Harrison has an English dad and a Nigerian mom which contributes to her problem of fitting in with others. Jess suffers from bouts of anxiety and frights, often breaking out into tantrums and screaming fits. On a visit to Nigeria to visit her mother's family, she meets a girl named TillyTilly whom she bonds with instantly. Although TillyTilly can't be seen by anybody else, but she's not an imaginary friend. Even once she returns to England, TillyTilly finds here there, turning sinister at times and telling Jess that she had a twin sister who died at birth. This information further upsets the imbalance in Jessamy's life, leading her to an identity and spiritual crises that she may never be able to control. Helen Oyeyemi's debut novel has received tempered praise with The Independent saying, "Oyeyemi is able to modulate from the skittish internal landscape of an unbalanced child to an altogether more menacing psychological pursuit with a confident voice. An immature subject interfacing with the paranormal is no easy platform for the demonstration of a writer's early maturity, but The Icarus Girl delivers well and promises more."