A review by thebacklistborrower
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Another book where I just don’t know where to start. I got the paperback in a book swap, but in a twist of fate, I decided it would maybe be better to listen to. There are only a few books where I specifically recommend the audiobook over a hard copy, and this is one of them. The women written by Bernadine Evaristo are fully brought to life through their language, accents, and vocal style in the narration done by Anna-Maria Nabirye. 

A collection of stories about the lives of 12 Black British women, the concepts of identity, race, gender, class, and sexuality are explored thoroughly through a myriad of intersectional viewpoints. The characters are loosely connected through school, work, family connections, relationships, and happenstance, but no two share more than their gender and race, leading to a deep, complex portrayal of life in Britain for Black women. However, that being said, the stories, trials, and lives of these women will have universal appeal. 

Partway through my read, I googled this book and found it co-won the Booker with the completely mediocre “The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood in 2019, an astonishing slight. So much of this book is about the struggles faced by women, and especially women of colour for academic, societal, business, and artistic recognition in broader society. The book is bookended by the story of Amma who, after decades in theatre, is opening a play she wrote in a mainstream theatre for the first time. And that’s just one example. For the judges to miss this point so fully that they gave the award in part to a mainstream white female author for an unimaginative, unremarkable sequel is painful.

While Girl, Woman, Other captures pain, it also captures joy. It walks a balance: tipping into sorrow before tripping into love. No matter your class, gender or sexual identity, race, religion, immigration status, or family makeup, you will find yourself in this book, and find others too. This book is universal. If you’re looking for a book to read this summer, this is it.