Reviews

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

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est_her's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

abseibert94's review against another edition

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4.0

My biggest mistake going into this book was expecting a love story. First and foremost this is not a book about intimate sexual love between two people although it plays a large role in the overall plot and themes.

I wanted to love this book. Initially I started reading Jeannette Winterson's Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? She kept making references to this book and so I figured I should give it a read. I found this book to be quite delightful; however, it is marred with its own issues. I found it difficult to really follow the timeline and understand the main character's age and maturity in relation to what was happening around them. I wanted to know more about her relationships with the women she was intimate with. When did things turn physical? How did she feel about Ms Jewsbury's advances during such an emotionally raw time in retrospect? How did she know Katy would return her advances and affections? Did she ever meet with a girl that didn't return her affections?
However this book truly is about three people and their relationship: Jeannette, her mother and God. The ending reflects this fact as we are constantly subjected to discussion of religion and her mother. You read this book hoping for an ending where Jeanette finds love and God far away from her mother but it doesn't happen. Jeannette finds success and peace with religion but her mother doesn't truly embrace her and who she is. There is no real resolution to the overall conflict of the book.
This reminds me of the real life LGBT+ community and their struggle for acceptance and equality that continued even after Jeannette found peace within herself with her own identity. The quiet but not really acknowledging the elephant in the room is symbolic of the way gay people live their lives: they're allowed to exist but only quietly and in their own spaces. I consider this tolerance and not acceptance. And acceptance is something Jeannette will never have from her mother which adds to the dissatisfaction of the ending and the void it leaves in your heart: a reflection of the real relationship between the author and her mother.