Girl, Woman, Other (Booker Prize 2019)

Girl, Woman, Other is a joy. It’s a celebration of black women’s voices – old and young, gay and straight and non-binary, embittered and hopeful, rich and poor – without ever becoming pedantic. And this book is something more: it takes the feminine archetypes (lover, maiden, mother, queen-bee, huntress, sage) and turns them on their ear, creating something totally original.There is Amma, whom the author says is loosely based on herself, a lesbian socialist playwright who is about to stage the culmination of her life’s work and her daughter Yazz and her squad of university friends who is trying to figure it all out. There is Dominique, a beautiful black woman who falls under the spell of a gorgeous, charismatic, and African-American woman who browbeats her to give up her independence and submit completely.There’s Shirley, a teacher who simply (or not so simply) wants to give kids a fighting chance and her sensually-starved mother, who may very well be one of the most toxic mothers in recent literature. There’s non-binary Megan/Morgan, who builds her identity through the Internet and her great-grandmother Hattie (GG) a strong 93-year-old survivor who is harboring a secret. And there’s HER mother, Grace, who “won the lottery” by marrying a wealthy farm owner and who struggles for quite a while with infertility. And that’s just for starters.This harmony of women’s voices—a cross-section of black British women—deals with everything from mother-daughter relationships, incest-of-sorts, power struggles, yearning for love, assimilation with white partners, and far more. As the novel progresses, the women become interrelated and interconnected in unexpected ways. And always, Bernardine Evaristo’s luscious prose – actually, a hybrid between prose and poetry – serves as the foundation for the story.The result is downright exhilarating. In a fair world, Girl, Woman, Other should have been the sole recipient of this year’s Booker Prize. It is, quite simply, why we read.

Not all of the characters in this book were interesting or even able to evoke a caring response from me but the characters that I liked I really developed a fondness for, in particular Carole and Yaz, but I couldn't bear LaTisha. That is the way it is in real life as I don't expect to like everyone(and no!!! herr trump there are NOT good people on both sides!!!!!!) but in a book it is much nicer when there is at least something intriguing about all the characters which was not the case here. I particularly liked being able to experience Black culture from an "insider's viewpoint" and I learned a lot about family here that is just so completely different from any of my experiences and even though I really had no comparative reference point I felt that it really rang true.Other reviewers have taken issue with the punctuation and grammatical (or lack there of) styling but I found it uniquely interesting and though maybe not easy to follow at all times, certainly different and effective. In books like this when I have trouble following the sentences or structure I find that it really helps to read it out loud and that way I can catch on to the rhythm and "musicality" of the language. I thought the style was fascinating and consistently interesting and that the characters themselves were really sharing themselves with me rather than that I was being subjected to some "art nouveau" machinations of a writer being deliberately cutesy and purposely obscure or obtuse. In other words I did not feel mucked about with by the author as I have felt with things by Borges and the abominable Jonathan Gass. Here is an intriguingly clever young lady that I would love to meet and have a chat with about literature. Overall this was a very enjoyable experience. The only reason I am not awarding it 5 stars is that I reserve that level of praise for books that I would probably enjoy reading more than once and I really can't see any need to read this one again. Once through was enough for me thank you. I would recommend it to most readers but I would caution that you would need an appreciation of experimental stylings and an open mind on such things as lesbianism and race.

Ver como as pessoas são tão iguais, não importa a cor de nossa pele, somos no fim de tudo seres humanos. Sim somos iguais, o que muda é a língua.

Bookclub

Las hstorias son maravillosas y la manera en que te lleva de una a otra... Somo todas las mujeres en una novela

Absolutely brilliant, if you read one thing this year, let it be this! I didn't think I'd love it so much. It's also my most highlighted book in recent times. Every statement packs a punch.

Thank you.sincerely mo