Author: Bernadine Evaristo
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary
Blurb: Joint Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2019
Teeming with life and crackling with energy — a love song to modern Britain and black womanhood
Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years.
Joyfully polyphonic and vibrantly contemporary, this is a gloriously new kind of history, a novel of our times: celebratory, ever-dynamic and utterly irresistible.
Me: I'd casually heard the name of this book everywhere for the past few months, but it took me a while to realize it was a recent book (one that won the Man Booker Prize in 2019!). I'm so glad I decided to finally read it - probably one of the best reads of 2020 so far.
The Ups: First of all, this is like my DREAM format of a book. Each "section" revolves around three Black women whose lives are connected somehow (mothers, friends, coworkers) and then each chapter delves into the mind and experiences of a specific character. In total, it's like spending time getting to know twelve separate people really well, and then seeing how their lives intersect in the same world. As someone who could read pages upon pages of character study, this book was incredible in just bringing so many people to life. I was amazed at how connected I felt to each one (and even how well I was able to keep track of them!) by the end of the book.
The format is not only a dream to read, but it also is so effective in allowing the book to do something entirely new. The book becomes an exploration of Black, British womanhood without ever simplifying or trivializing the diverse experiences. Because the book is so rooted in specificity, because the characters come alive on their own, the general narrative they tell about being Black in modern Britain is so much more rich and truthful.
I was also struck by just how funny and warm the book is. I think the humor and lightness at times is proof that the book works on so many different levels. There's a discussion of looking so white you don't even know you had African roots. Another one about dressing "professional" and dating a white man as a way of ensuring one's place in the social hierarchy. At one point, one character (who has been an ardent feminist since the 80/90s) says her festival for women is not for trans women, who don't have the same experiences as her. Her friend is quick to point out that she is digressing into becoming as close-minded and exclusive as the others they criticized. The level of depth in discussing how not only racism, but just the constant definition of otherness, seeps into everyday life was masterful.
The form is also unlike anything I've read- almost like one large prose poem, with very little punctuation and line breaks instead. But I think the experimentation is so effective because the book stays rooted in each woman's experience. I was blown away by how well-developed each character and each little world was. In the end, the book is so honest but also openly beautiful. It doesn't shy away from giving its characters humanity entirely and completely, and that's why it stands out.
The Downs: I thought the ending was really well done, but I almost wished it was longer! I guess I could have read these characters' lives forever...
Rating: 5 kisses!
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