GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER BY BERNARDINE EVARISTO

PLOT SUMMARY:

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

MY REVIEW:

I adored this book and for so many reasons.

When I first opened the book and noticed the actual format that it's written in, I was a little confused. I love punctuation and seeing typos and lack of full stops and capital letter it makes my skin itch. However, very quickly I didn't even notice the unusual format within this book and actually thought it flowed really smoothly.

The 12 stories within this book are all so powerful in their own way. Evaristo brings us on a number of journeys that make us think about who we are as a person, take a deep look at our friends and family and reassess our goals and what we want from life. I also loved the multi generational aspect of all these stories and how we got such real and tangible insights into what life was like for a woman, particularly a black woman, during a certain period.

As a white person, I also found this book hugely educational. It gives a great insight into the every day life of black women and you really start to realise how much easier we have it being white. The every day trials and tribulations that these women come across wouldn't even cross my mind and it is hugely eye opening.

IN 3 WORDS/PHRASES:

Masterpiece

Eye Opening

Beautiful

FAVOURITE QUOTE:

'Grace decided that she was going to put a stop to her personality once and for all, she was going to have decorous emotions and be restrained.'

This might seem like a weird quote to pick out but it really struck me because that is how life was for women. There was a certain standard to be met and there was no questioning it.

FAVOURITE CHARACTER:

This is very hard...I'm stuck between Dominique, Hattie or Grace. I just found their stories so compelling and I wanted to know more.

OVERALL RATING:

10/10