Jessamy Harrison

Jessamy Wuraola Harrison (born July 25, 1986 in London) is a fictional character created by author Helen Oyeyemi.

Life

Jessamy Harrison lives in London with her family. One summer her mother takes Jessamy and her father to Nigeria. There, she meets a little girl the same age as Jess. Her name is TillyTilly. She is very nice to Jess at first. But as the book progresses she becomes more and more violent, blaming Jess for her own DEEDS.

Family

• Sarah Bisimi Harrison: is the mother of Jessamy. She is an author and can be violent at times.
• Daniel Harrison: is the father of Jessamy Harrison. He is very kind but can also loose his temper at times. What he works with is never told.
• Fern Harrison: deceased twin sister.
• Adam Fitzpatrick: Paternal Uncle. He always tries to make Jess laugh.
• Lucy Fitzpatrick née Harrison: Paternal aunt. Not much is known about her. She mentions in one scene of the book that she is pregnant.
• Dulcie Fitzpatrick: paternal cousin.
• Kunle, Funke and Biola: maternal aunts and uncle.
• Akin, Bisola, Ebon, Tope, Taye, Bose and Femi: maternal cousins.

Personality

Jessamy is very shy. She is not so fond of talking. She was picked on a lot in class. Several times a day, she would have panic attacks. When she finds out through TillyTilly that she had a twin sister who died at birth, she thinks she screamed because she had no twin sister. Throughout the book, she gets to understand that TillyTilly is not really real. She likes TillyTilly. But still she is frightened by Tilly. She loves reading books, but has a habit of editing books she doesn't like the content of. For example when something happens to one of the character that she doesn't like.

Themes

The themes of the book are mostly the ones of being half african-half brittish. Jessamy is searching for her own identity. It's very much a horror book. But there are big themes of realistic fiction as well. The book has also themes of Nigerian myths.