Girl, Woman, Other

Girl, Woman, Other

Bernardine Evaristo

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Bernardine Evaristo is the winner of the 2019 Booker Prize and the first black woman to receive this highest literary honor in the English language. Girl, Woman, Other is a magnificent portrayal of the intersections of identity and a moving and hopeful story of an interconnected group of Black British women that paints a vivid portrait of the state of contemporary Britain and looks back to the legacy of Britain’s colonial history in Africa and the Caribbean. The twelve central characters of this multi-voiced novel lead vastly different lives: Amma is a newly acclaimed playwright whose work often explores her Black lesbian identity; her old friend Shirley is a teacher, jaded after decades of work in London’s funding-deprived schools; Carole, one of Shirley’s former students, is a successful investment banker; Carole’s mother Bummi works as a cleaner and worries about her daughter’s lack of rootedness despite her obvious achievements. From a nonbinary social media influencer to a 93-year-old woman living on a farm in Northern England, these unforgettable characters also intersect in shared aspects of their identities, from age to race to sexuality to class. Sparklingly witty and filled with emotion, centering voices we often see othered, and written in an innovative fast-moving form that borrows technique from poetry, Girl, Woman, Other is a polyphonic and richly textured social novel that shows a side of Britain we rarely see, one that reminds us of all that connects us to our neighbors, even in times when we are encouraged to be split apart.


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  • Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

    What a beautiful tribute to a diverse group of British womxn grappling with motherhood, family, identity, careers, trauma, etc. I found the storylines very compelling and loved how Evaristo tied them all together at the end of the novel. There also weren't really any characters whose chapters I felt dragged (although I did have my particular favorites - like Amma and Yazz). The exploration of femininity, feminism, class, race, etc. was done so well through giving the perspectives of so many different womxn. The main couple of (small) issues I had were with the Winsome/Lennox plot line and some of the "young person" speak (i.e. Yazz telling her mom that her friend group can only be referred to as her "squad"). There were some times it was a tad difficult to keep track of all the characters, but the important ones stick out (i.e. the ones who have their own chapters). Overall though, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

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