With the help of Clio's daughter, Gretel, Harriet eventually escapes Druhá and leaves Druhástrana altogether with her mother. While involved in this scheme, Harriet begins to realize the truth of Clio's deceptions and corruption. She turns the girls into Gingerbread Girls and uses them as marketing tools.

Clio also employs Harriet as well as many other young girls in Druhá City as a part of her new campaign. The Lees struggle to survive and are eventually forced to sell their family gingerbread recipe to Clio. While there, the Lees work on a farm which is owned and operated by Clio Kercheval. The narrative then flashes into the past and details Harriet and Margot's early lives in Druhástrana. Though she has not revealed these details before, she realizes Perdita needs to know about Druhástrana and the Kercheval family. When the women return home, Harriet tells Perdita the story of her former life. The doctor encourages Harriet to talk to her as much as possible in order to expedite her linguistic remembrance. As she recovers, she works to gradually recover her speech capabilities. While in the hospital, Perdita eventually regains consciousness, though her ability to speak has been greatly altered. After Perdita's hospitalization, Harriet discovers that she has taken a sachet of powder in an attempt to travel back to Druhástrana. Eventually she finds her daughter lying unconscious in her bedroom. When Perdita turns up missing, Harriet grows frantic. Thoughts of her former friend Gretel simultaneously distract Harriet from remaining present. Instead of fully engaging with her present reality, Harriet obsessively attempts to find new information about her nearly erased homeland Druhástrana. Yet her heart and mind are perpetually preoccupied by thoughts of the past. Working as a teacher and attempting to get involved with her daughter's academic community, Harriet feigns normalcy. In Gingerbread, Harriet Lee lives in London with her teenage daughter Perdita and her mother Margot. The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Oyeyemi, Helen.

Gingerbread helen oyeyemi summary