From the award-winning, bestselling “literary pied piper” (The New York Times) who brought us Boy, Snow, Bird comes a masterful story that asks: What if the different sides of your personality had trust issues with each other?
New Day, New You!
Kinga is a woman who is just trying to make it through the week. There’s a Kinga for every day: On Mondays, you can catch Kinga-A deleting food delivery apps. By Friday, Kinga-E is happy to spend the days soaking, wine-drunk, in the bath.
Kingas A–G, perhaps unsurprisingly, live a varied life—between them is a professional matchmaker, a scent-crazed perfumer, and a window cleaner, all with varying degrees of apathy, anger, introversion, and bossiness. At least three of them are Team Toxic.
It’s an arrangement that’s not without its fair share of admin, grudges, and half-truths. But when Kinga-A discovers a man tied up in their apartment, the Kingas have to reckon with the possibility that one of them might be planning to destroy them all.
How many versions of oneself can one self safely contain?
One of: Lit Hub's "Ultimate Summer Reading List" and "Most Anticipated Books of 2025" Vox's "Summer Reading Picks" AARP's "35 Summer Books to Add to Your 2025 Reading List"
Praise for A New New Me:
“Adventurous readers will enjoy following its twisty path.” —Publishers Weekly
“A surrealist romp…Oyeyemi offers us an existential farce that wrestles with what it means to reconcile all the pieces of yourself, especially when they're in constant disagreement about how best to live a life.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A wild ride. . . . [A New New Me] belongs with Oyeyemi’s more recent works: playful, self-aware tales that revel in the hijinks of storytelling. . . . A comedy about the masks we wear, if you will, as well as an existential mystery. . . . The denouement, when it finally comes, is so gloriously absurd, you can't help but salute Oyeyemi's knack for artful nonsense. She is a gleefully unapologetic trickster;whether you adore this novel or chuck it across the room may come down to how much mischief for the sake of mischief you can handle. My bet is you’ll finish it, as I did, feeling bemused but also perversely entertained, and grateful for the ride.” —The Guardian (UK), Book of the Day
"Helen Oyeyemi occupies a similar space as Wes Anderson in my creative consciousness. . . . It’s bringing to mind Shirley Jackson’s The Bird’s Nest, except weirder." —Literary Hub
“Wildly imaginative.” —AARP
"Dizzyingly funny. . . . The story’s crowning jewel is the author’s ability to create seven unique voices belonging to one individual.” ―The New Statesman (UK)
“Helen Oyeyemi is one of the most imaginative writers around, and her latest—A New New Me—might be her best yet. . . . It’s fast-paced, funny, a bit dark and totally unique. . . . Absolutely worth the ride.” ―Press Association
“A brilliantly fun set-up. . . . In a sense it becomes a whodunnit as told through a kaleidoscope. . . . There is hardly a sentence here that won’t make you smile.” ―The Observer (UK)
“Screams ‘commercial break out’. . . . An audacious, incisive and very funny novel about self knowledge in today’s tech mediated age.” ―Daily Mail (UK)
“Helen Oyeyemi is a brilliant and deeply imaginative writer, so it is no surprise that her latest offering A New New Me is an intellectually provocative story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. In her innovative new novel, Oyeyemi introduces us to Kinga, a woman who has a different personality for every day of the week. . . . A masterful storyteller, Oyeyemi takes us on a wild ride as Kinga. . . . tries to keep her many lives from exploding. A New New Me is a clever and original story that makes you think about how one's identity is shaped and whether it can be controlled. A must-read.” —NPR
Helen Oyeyemi is the author of seven novels, including Peaces, Gingerbread, and Boy, Snow, Bird, and of the story collection What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours. Winner of the PEN Open Book and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Oyeyemi was named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists.
View titles by Helen Oyeyemi
From the award-winning, bestselling “literary pied piper” (The New York Times) who brought us Boy, Snow, Bird comes a masterful story that asks: What if the different sides of your personality had trust issues with each other?
New Day, New You!
Kinga is a woman who is just trying to make it through the week. There’s a Kinga for every day: On Mondays, you can catch Kinga-A deleting food delivery apps. By Friday, Kinga-E is happy to spend the days soaking, wine-drunk, in the bath.
Kingas A–G, perhaps unsurprisingly, live a varied life—between them is a professional matchmaker, a scent-crazed perfumer, and a window cleaner, all with varying degrees of apathy, anger, introversion, and bossiness. At least three of them are Team Toxic.
It’s an arrangement that’s not without its fair share of admin, grudges, and half-truths. But when Kinga-A discovers a man tied up in their apartment, the Kingas have to reckon with the possibility that one of them might be planning to destroy them all.
How many versions of oneself can one self safely contain?
Reviews
One of: Lit Hub's "Ultimate Summer Reading List" and "Most Anticipated Books of 2025" Vox's "Summer Reading Picks" AARP's "35 Summer Books to Add to Your 2025 Reading List"
Praise for A New New Me:
“Adventurous readers will enjoy following its twisty path.” —Publishers Weekly
“A surrealist romp…Oyeyemi offers us an existential farce that wrestles with what it means to reconcile all the pieces of yourself, especially when they're in constant disagreement about how best to live a life.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A wild ride. . . . [A New New Me] belongs with Oyeyemi’s more recent works: playful, self-aware tales that revel in the hijinks of storytelling. . . . A comedy about the masks we wear, if you will, as well as an existential mystery. . . . The denouement, when it finally comes, is so gloriously absurd, you can't help but salute Oyeyemi's knack for artful nonsense. She is a gleefully unapologetic trickster;whether you adore this novel or chuck it across the room may come down to how much mischief for the sake of mischief you can handle. My bet is you’ll finish it, as I did, feeling bemused but also perversely entertained, and grateful for the ride.” —The Guardian (UK), Book of the Day
"Helen Oyeyemi occupies a similar space as Wes Anderson in my creative consciousness. . . . It’s bringing to mind Shirley Jackson’s The Bird’s Nest, except weirder." —Literary Hub
“Wildly imaginative.” —AARP
"Dizzyingly funny. . . . The story’s crowning jewel is the author’s ability to create seven unique voices belonging to one individual.” ―The New Statesman (UK)
“Helen Oyeyemi is one of the most imaginative writers around, and her latest—A New New Me—might be her best yet. . . . It’s fast-paced, funny, a bit dark and totally unique. . . . Absolutely worth the ride.” ―Press Association
“A brilliantly fun set-up. . . . In a sense it becomes a whodunnit as told through a kaleidoscope. . . . There is hardly a sentence here that won’t make you smile.” ―The Observer (UK)
“Screams ‘commercial break out’. . . . An audacious, incisive and very funny novel about self knowledge in today’s tech mediated age.” ―Daily Mail (UK)
“Helen Oyeyemi is a brilliant and deeply imaginative writer, so it is no surprise that her latest offering A New New Me is an intellectually provocative story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. In her innovative new novel, Oyeyemi introduces us to Kinga, a woman who has a different personality for every day of the week. . . . A masterful storyteller, Oyeyemi takes us on a wild ride as Kinga. . . . tries to keep her many lives from exploding. A New New Me is a clever and original story that makes you think about how one's identity is shaped and whether it can be controlled. A must-read.” —NPR
Helen Oyeyemi is the author of seven novels, including Peaces, Gingerbread, and Boy, Snow, Bird, and of the story collection What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours. Winner of the PEN Open Book and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Oyeyemi was named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists.
View titles by Helen Oyeyemi
