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ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Girl, Woman, Other

Author: Bernardine Evaristo

Genre: Fiction, Feminism, Contemporary, LGBT

Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat

Publication Date: November, 2019

Pages: 464, Paperback

Girl, Woman, Other By Bernardine Evaristo is a story of twelve different British womxn, mostly black, spanning different generations. To some extent, it reminded me of Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing tale. 

I almost put the book down after a few pages. The first few chapters were slow but overwhelming, given the author’s style choice. However, once I got the hang of it, it made me regret not picking it up earlier. The lyrical and poetic prose style reminded me of when I loved poetry many years back. Still do; I just haven’t gotten to reading it so much lately. 

Anyway, I digress. 

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Girl, Woman, Other explores the family, individual, and love lives of these womxn. It touches on violence in relationships, sex, friendships, and feminism. You can feel the contrast between the modern way of life and thinking through the lens of younger characters from that of older generations. Each of these characters is met with a varying tone that somehow matches their particular era. 

What caught my attention is how all characters have an intertwined relationship by the end of the book without even knowing about it. For instance, Amma, more of the primary character and occupies the first chapter, has a play showing at the National Theater. At the end of the book, we get a glimpse of all the characters attending the play, some by association with Amma and others from being part of the LGBTQI community or having friends or partners in this community or world of art.

I couldn’t help but note the wide variety of books and music mentioned in the book. It is undoubtedly a gold mine for fantastic pieces of literature! 

Enjoyable as this book was, there are times I found myself lost in between the characters. I couldn’t tell who was who in some chapters, and I had to refer back a few pages or chapters to catch up. Second, the author could have better captured how some characters overcame their horrific and traumatic experiences, from rape to violence in relationships. I mean, waking up and willing oneself to forget everything that happened is possibly not how many survivors of such experiences recover. It takes work. A lot of work, and it would be excellent to read, albeit in a fictional book, what such a process is like. 

Get Your Copy of Girl, Woman, Other By Bernardine Evaristo

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My ★ Rating 4

Goodreads ★ Rating 4.35 (as of February 2022)