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bisexualbookshelf's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body is an intimate exploration of love, loss, and the physicality that binds them. The novel opens with the striking line, “Why is the measure of love loss?”—a question that resonates throughout the text as the unnamed, ungendered narrator grapples with the consuming affair they have with Louise, a married woman.
Winterson’s prose is a blend of lyrical beauty and confessional reflections, drawing the reader into the narrator’s intense emotional landscape. The natural imagery, with its flora and fauna mirroring the narrator’s internal state, is a testament to Winterson’s ability to evoke vulnerability through nature. “You are a pool of clear water where the light plays,” Louise tells the narrator, encapsulating the tender yet tumultuous relationship that drives the novel.
However, Written on the Body is not just a love story; it’s also a critique of compulsory heterosexuality. The narrator’s observations on marriage—“No one can legislate love; it cannot be given orders or cajoled into service. Love belongs to itself, deaf to pleading and unmoved by violence,”—challenge the societal norms that confine love to rigid structures. This, coupled with the narrator’s yearning for a love that is quietly fulfilling instead of deeply devastating, adds a subtle yet poignant layer of queerness to the text.
Yet, the novel falters with its fatphobic descriptions of a character named Gail. Winterson’s portrayal, comparing Gail to a strip of bacon, feels jarring and outdated, detracting from the overall narrative. This discomfort, coupled with a problematic reference to autism, casts a shadow over an otherwise beautifully written book.
Despite these flaws, Written on the Body remains a powerful meditation on the intersections of love, body, and mortality. Winterson’s prose is undeniably gorgeous, and while the plot may meander, the emotional resonance is undeniable. I would have rated this book 4 stars, but the fatphobia and ableist language lower it to a 3.75. Winterson’s writing is still worth reading, but these aspects cannot be overlooked.
📖 Recommended For: Readers who love lyrical prose, those drawn to introspective explorations of love and loss, anyone interested in narratives that challenge traditional notions of gender and identity.
🔑 Key Themes: Love and Loss, Compulsory Heterosexuality, Body and Mortality, Queerness and Identity.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Fatphobia, Infidelity, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol
coinmanatee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Read for Uni
And frankly that 1 star is being generous and awarded solely for the fact that the prose is pretty.
For uni we were told to focus on the fact that the narrator of this story doesn't give themselves a gender. Which honestly is the least interesting thing about this book. It's done because apparently "love is the same for all. Hetero or Homo" ...Which is a lie. Because while the FEELING might be the same, the way we relate to it is different. Most hetero people don't worry about how the greater public is going to ostracise or kill them for the sin of loving the wrong person.
The story tries to level the playing field by making the love story an affair. A woman cheating on her husband.
But you know the fact it has to do this kind of proves my point. (And this isn't even a love triangle that is solved with PolyA. One of the characters attempts the briefest, worst attempt at PolyA I think you can get without just not telling your husband that you're having an affair)
Also love isn't universal in regards to the book consistently and unceasingly equates sex to love. And Ace people exist.
Then halfway through the book turns into this WEIRD AS FUCK love letter to a disabled woman using medical terminology mixed with colourful (verging on purple) prose and.
You know if I had found out an ex of mine had become REALLY into my specific medical issues I would be weirded out, to extremely disturbed.
Which is the third point of, this book isn't even a love story. It's a book that thinks it's a love story but really is a story about obsession and a person who wouldn't know real love if it smashed them on the head.
Oh, and the antisemitism of the "antagonist" (husband) is just. Unfortunate. As is a second half of this book hinging on an ultimately ableist plot decision.
And frankly that 1 star is being generous and awarded solely for the fact that the prose is pretty.
For uni we were told to focus on the fact that the narrator of this story doesn't give themselves a gender. Which honestly is the least interesting thing about this book. It's done because apparently "love is the same for all. Hetero or Homo" ...Which is a lie. Because while the FEELING might be the same, the way we relate to it is different. Most hetero people don't worry about how the greater public is going to ostracise or kill them for the sin of loving the wrong person.
The story tries to level the playing field by making the love story an affair. A woman cheating on her husband.
But you know the fact it has to do this kind of proves my point. (And this isn't even a love triangle that is solved with PolyA. One of the characters attempts the briefest, worst attempt at PolyA I think you can get without just not telling your husband that you're having an affair)
Also love isn't universal in regards to the book consistently and unceasingly equates sex to love. And Ace people exist.
Then halfway through the book turns into this WEIRD AS FUCK love letter to a disabled woman using medical terminology mixed with colourful (verging on purple) prose and.
You know if I had found out an ex of mine had become REALLY into my specific medical issues I would be weirded out, to extremely disturbed.
Which is the third point of, this book isn't even a love story. It's a book that thinks it's a love story but really is a story about obsession and a person who wouldn't know real love if it smashed them on the head.
Oh, and the antisemitism of the "antagonist" (husband) is just. Unfortunate. As is a second half of this book hinging on an ultimately ableist plot decision.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Antisemitism
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Body shaming
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