Why do I love living in London so much? Mostly, I believe, it’s due to the diversity. I grew up in a small country, in a neighbourhood, which was nice, safe and great for kids. But at some point during my teenage years, I started to feel bored and a bit restrained. It bothered me, that everyone was wearing the same clothes, had the same kind of furniture, had similar ambitions in life and nobody really stuck out. If you did something out of the ordinary, it was sure to be talked about.
Then I started university, moved to a big city and met people with a variety of exotic backgrounds and eccentric personalities. It was like everything fell into place.
In London the diversity is in a league of its own, which Bernardine Evaristo reminded me of with her prize winning Girl, Woman, Other. In the first chapter, we meet the larger-than-life character Amma, who is a successful, non-conforming, black, lesbian playwright, who generally grabs what she wants from life. I love to think there are characters like her around in London.
But it is not just Amma. Equally, I enjoyed getting to know the ambitious Carole, the mundane Shirley, the struggling Latisha and the rest. Everybody is different, everybody has a story to tell.
Perhaps, I could relate to Carole the most because her circle in London overlaps with mine. Yes, London may be perceived as a melting pot, but we still mostly live in cohorts, which intermingle, but don’t quite melt together. I would go and see Amma’s new play at the National Theatre, but we wouldn’t normally move in the same circles.
Carole, on the other hand, works in the city, as do I. And I have often wondered about how relatively few in this excessively international work force have African heritage. Carole is one of those who made it, first to Oxford and then to a job as investment banker.
Girl, Woman, Other features 12 British, black women, each with their own chapter. They are divided into four groups, with the women in each group being closely connected. This structure allows the author to explore the dynamics between the women in each group. Also, it adds nuance to the characterization: first we get to see the person as they see themselves and then afterwards through the eyes of others.
In Carole’s story we hear how a terrible event in the teenage years makes her decide never to live the same life as her mother, working as a cleaner, raising her child as a single mother, struggling to make ends meet. Carole does achieve her goals making this a great story of how you can succeed no matter what background you come from.
In the next chapter we hear how Carole’s mother, Bummi, is excessively proud of her daughter, but also angry with her. On the way to success Carole abandoned her Nigerian roots. Now she is rejecting her mothers traditional cooking, wearing expensive English clothes and is married to a rich, upper-class Brit.
I didn’t sympathise with one over the other, because I could see where both Carole and her mother were coming from.
The novel covers a variety of themes including race, gender, sexuality, abuse and class. And yet, it doesn’t feel like a particularly heavy read. Evaristo paints an impressionistic picture with light brush strokes, one event here, one conversation there. During the chapter the brush strokes come together and form a picture of the life of each individual woman and in the end the individual pictures come together to form a powerful collage.
One specific quirk of the novel is the punctuation, which I mentioned in an earlier post. The novel is written in a floating style without any full stops. So did it bother me?
Mostly, it was fine and the style suited the impressionistic writing well: one sentence here, one sentence there, with everything flowing together to build the bigger picture. When the flow of the writing occasionally lost momentum, it did bother me. Let’s face it, the poetic touch aside, the style resembles a text message, where the writer is in an awful hurry.
Girl, Woman, Other really is an ode to black women, to women in general, to diversity. It wasn’t perfect and perhaps 12 stories was on the high side. But I loved listening to the voices of these diverse and amazing characters and I found the novel a refreshing take on some very topical themes. In my view a worthy Booker winner.
4 1/2 stars from me, generously rounded up to 5.
Title: Girl, Woman, Other [2019] Author: Bernardine Evaristo Format: eBook Genre: Fiction
GREAT review – I’ve had it sitting waiting to be read for ages now, but I do plan on picking it up soon.
Thanks Jules π I hope you will enjoy it! And I know about books waiting for ages to be read – but actually I quite enjoy just thinking about the books I am going to read (on day…).
A novel without fullstops is definitely not a read for me, I like it ‘oldschool’ style, meaning there’s grammar with punctuation involved. I do like the idea that you get chapters with a character and then you see the same character from another perspective. Great review!
It certainly was a bit alternative, but I think most people quickly get used to the lack of punctuation. Opposite the lack of quotation marks, which I never get used to. There were a couple of characters which appeared very different, when you saw them through the eyes of others compared to the impression they gave of themselves. That was quite interesting: does your own self image really match how others see you? Thanks Inge π
I was quite taken aback when I opened the book and saw the narration style, but after few pages I got so used to it that now I actually like it a lot!
Despite the lack of full stops, most sentences are fragmented, so the reader gets a visual hint about the end of the sentence. It’s not like the stream of consciousness style where you have a whole page full of text, without any punctuation mark.
Ah thank you for that info Georgiana! I had a Netgalley novel once without punctuation (it certainly wasn’t intented) and that was not a good experience. One minute they were talking and 4 words later someone was putting a coat on…
Great review! Iβm glad you enjoyed this one! π
Thanks, yes it was definitely worth the effort, I’m glad I finally managed to read it.
This sounds like a good audiobook choice. I like when the chapters have different narrators and the topic sounds interesting.
It was interesting to have a different character telling their story in each chapter, but of course it meant that you don’t get to learn that much about each individual. Towards the end, I thought perhaps the novel lost a bit of steam. But overall, still a wonderful read.
I can see that. If it switches around too much you may feel like you lose a connection or a storyline unfinished
Yes, I think for most of the characters you are left curious and eager to hear more, which is both good and bad. You do briefly meet a lot of the characters again in the final chapter, which is quite nice.
It’s becoming a habit: you write reviews which push me towards books that I’ve maybe shied away from! And isn’t that great! It’s one of the best parts of reading book blogs! π So this one is added to that tbr that I never used to have but I suspect it may not sit around on there for long! Great review!
I am glad to hear that! π It’s a slow burner and in my opinion it benefits from being read over a period, with 1-2 chapters at a time. If read quickly, there is a distinct possibility of getting the 12 characters and their stories mixed together. Overall, I was positively surprised about this novel, I enjoyed it much more than I would have thought. Thanks!
Great review. This sounds like a good book to read as I used to work in London too. Not sure about the lack of full stops. There’s a long wait on this on my Libby app but I may preview it to see if I can cope with the punctuation!
Thanks! I would definitely download an extract first to see how you get on with it. From the reviews I’ve read, it seems that most people get used to the punctuation fairly quickly, though.
Wonderful review, Stargazerπ
Thanks Jonetta! π
Fantastic review! I tried this in print but it didn’t work for me, but now I have a copy of the audiobook for review, I’m definitely going to give it another go!
Thanks Nicki! π I thought about getting the audiobook as well, but when reading the reviews on Amazon, many people had some issues with the narrator, so I decided to read the ebook instead and get the full *benefit* of the alternative punctuation! π Anyway, I hope the audiobook works for you if you decide to give it a try!
Thanks fingers crossed!π€
I’m reading the book at the moment and I agree with your points! It’s an interesting blend of diversity, stories about women and stories about black people – an eye-opening book for me. This weekend I plan to read the final 3 chapters, looking forward to the final part π
Good to hear! I hope you will enjoy the final 3 chapters. In my opinion, the last section had some of the least memorable characters – or perhaps I had just reached my saturation point at that stage. I will look out for your review! π
Glad you enjoyed it so much – always good to hear when a Booker winner actually deserves it! I do think the style quirks would annoy me, but I may be tempted to try it sometime. I’m glad from the sound of it that some of her characters are allowed to be happy and/or successful – that’s refreshing!
Haha, yes, I don’t always get on particularly well with prize winners, but this one surprised me positively. Despite of the hardship, experiences of racism, etc, there was actually a lot of positivity in the novel as well. That made it a lot easier to cope with the relatively heavy themes, and on balance it left me feeling uplifted.
loved reading this review! i’ll definitely pick this book up when I get the chance π
Thanks! π I hope you will enjoy it, if you decide to go ahead. And thanks for stopping by!
This sounds very insightful. Last summer I visited London for the first time and I concluded that it felt like an oversized version of my own city (Montreal). I could totally see myself living there and experience similar social/cultural variety. Great review! π
Ah, you have been to London. I’m glad you liked it. π I’ve visited Canada once, but stayed in the Western part (it’s such a big country!) to enjoy Vancouver Island, Vancouver and Rocky Mountains. Who knows, perhaps I’ll come back one day, I found Canada a lovely country a very easy to travel in. Thanks!
Yes, London may be perceived as a melting pot, but we still mostly live in cohorts, which intermingle, but donβt quite melt together. – You hit the nail in the head (Iβm still accustoming myself to British phrases, if that is british). You can really see this in universities or the workplace though perhaps slightly more chances of unity and cohesion at a select few arts organisations.
Iβm on a quest to read more books set in London by black and non-black POC after reading Queenie, and Girl, Woman, Other is high on my list (and for many others according to Libby). Great review.
That is very true, you don’t find unity as such. I still think it’s great how people from all over the world come together and work together. I work with people from all over the world (admittedly, not that many from Africa) and sometimes there are communication problems or misunderstandings due to our different backgrounds. But everyone just accepts that and gets on with it and eventually we adjust to each other and learn about our differences. Generally, the international work force is a huge benefit for London. Of course there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of diversity and being more open towards people, who may not fit into one of the *usual* boxes. Hopefully we will get there eventually.
I haven’t read Queenie but I can definitely recommend Girl, Woman, Other. Thanks for a thoughtful comment!
I think because we grow up in such different environments, there can, at times, be a language barrier or a lack of sharing the same sense of humour that can make the workplace feel not as fun as you would hope it to! I think diversity is something that can easily be done, but the real test is efforts towards equality and inclusion. I guess this year is a strong time to finally see whether we can make progress, although I do believe itβll be a lifetime struggle.
Queenie is amazing, eye-opening, harrowing and fun too! Hope you get to read it someday!
Yes, there are definitely barriers in terms of different sense of humour and cultural misunderstandings, but I’ve found that people adapt to each other. If one person was foreign in a crowd of Brits it might potentially be difficult for that person, but in London everybody is from “somewhere else” so nobody stands out. There is a long way before we get to 100% equality, but it’s not all bad. Despite of everything, we have actually come a long way compared to how things were in the past (which I’m often reminded of when reading historical fiction).
Queenie does sound like an interesting one!
Great review! I found it interesting to read your perspective as someone who lives in London. And youβre on point with your comparison to this being like an impressionist painting- Evaristo conveys in light strokes but the final product is stunning (weird style aside, ha!). So glad you liked this one. π
Thanks! π It always adds a dimension when you are familiar with the location of the novel. Of course there are lots of books taking place in London. I am glad as well and a huge thanks to you and all the other bloggers whose reviews persuaded me to go ahead!
hmm not sure how I’d take the lack of full stops, though I’m curious about checking it out to see what I make of it. But I do really like your points about London (although I generally take it for granted these days π ) and love books set there. Great review!
The lack of full stops is a bit different, but odds are you’ll quickly get used to it. I love books set in London as well. It’s true there are a lot of things I’ve started to take for granted about the city, but now and again I get reminded about why I like it so much. Thanks!
Oh gosh I miss London! I agree with your point, we intermingle but not melt. Amazing review π I would be bothered by the punctuation, or lack of, I think! x
I can understand that, hopefully you’ll come back one day. π€ Yes, unfortunately I think the melting part might be difficult to achieve in practise. Maybe in an ideal world? Haha, you might get used to the (lack of) punctuation, I think most readers do.
Sounds like an interesting read to say the least, think I’ll have to add it to my to read list.
It really was! I hope you’ll enjoy it, if you decide to read it. π
I certainly will.
This is a lovely review and gives me a good idea of what to expect with this one. I love that cover, too. Iβm happy you enjoyed it overall!
Thanks Jennifer! Yes, it’s a nice cover isn’t it.
I loved this book too!
Good to hear! It will be interesting to see if it takes the Women’s prize for fiction.
Yes, it definitely would!
Hi! I’ve been interested in reading Girl, Woman, Other. It’s great to see you liked it so much. I’ll be moving it up on my TBR list. Thanks for reviewing it! Great to find your blog, too π
I obviously don’t know your taste in books (I’ve just followed your blog, though!) but I will definitely recommend this one. At least if you can get along with the poetry style of writing without punctuation. It took me a little while to get used to. I hope you enjoy it, when you get to it! π
Hi Stargazer – thanks for the follow. I’ve read about Girl, Woman, Other in a couple places so I feel good about wanting to read it. π
Great! I will check if a review should appear on your blog at some point. π
Thank you!
This novel stood out to me for its honest depiction of womanhood. I just posted my review, and felt quite similarly as you as I studied abroad in London and my eyes were open to a whole other world that made me hungry for a life larger than my tiny hometown. Glad you liked it! <3 π
Yes, it’s an eye opener, isn’t it, moving to a big city, when you have grown up in a smaller, more local community. I absolutely love it and I’m not sure, I am going to leave again. It really was an honest depiction of womanhood and I loved so many of the characters. Thanks for stopping by! π
Iβve not long picked this book up and after reading your review I canβt wait to read it! Fantastic review!
Gemma | http://thatbookishgem.com
Good to hear, I hope you will enjoy it, when you get to it! Thanks π
This is a great review Stargazer. I think you’ve captured the book well. I also enjoyed the insight into your own life and reasons for appreciating this book. I liked your point that you didn’t agree with one character – eg Carole or Bummi – over another because they each had their own lives and points of view. I loved how Evaristo was able to tell such disparate stories so non-judgementally.
Thanks Sue. I always enjoy books I can relate to personally and this one reminded me very much of what I love about London. Yes, I agree about Evaristo being non-judgemental and I also admired her ability to create engaging characters in one short chapter. In quite a few of the chapters, I was so disappointed when it finished, because I wanted to learn more about the character.