Girl, Woman, Other

Since having won the Booker Prize in 2019 (along with Margaret Atwood), Anglo-Nigerian writer Bernardino Evaristo has been widely discussed and reviewed. Her novel Woman, Girl, Other is a wonderful modern book, showing a side of today's Britain which is not often read about.

At first glance, it's obvious that this is a special novel because it's use of punctuation is different from general conventions. This take some getting used to, but creates an interesting rhythm. At times, the sentences flow like in normal prose, but in some moments they are slowed down by the authors choice of spacing and punctuation. This sometimes creates a theatrical  atmosphere, and sometimes it seems even poetic. Some moments - just in terms of how they are written and how this underlines their meaning - are simply beautiful, and cannot fail to touch readers who love language and literature. 

Another unusual feature of this novel is the amount of protagonists. Evaristo's novel gives a voice to 12 protagonists, who are all female and to some extent related - either by family ties, friendship, work relations or such. This allows the author to show a large variety of worlds within Britain and also show some aspects as they were experienced and perceived by different generations. Generally speaking, the different characters all show some female destinies influenced by race, genre and sexual orientation, but also love, marriage, having children and other universal topics. 

While it is unusual to have a shifting point of view, there is enough to relate to in all portrayed women to feel connected to that this doesn't seem like something is amiss. The most surprising and enriching element of this change of protagonist is that the reader sees different perspectives. While it might happen that such things are revealed in dialogues in other books, it is rare to get to know one perspective and then switch to one of the supporting characters to find out about their - often contrasting - point of view. This creates not only humour but also deep insights into the dysfunctional relationships.

The main topics of the novel are all related to what it means to be a woman in Britain, both in the past and today. Some experiences by the protagonists are heartbreaking, others enraging; overall, they create a picture of a world that's full of difficulties, but also filled with humanity and love. Each reader might relate more to some characters than another reader, but it's hard to imagine that anyone can read this novel without emotion and empathy. 

Personally, I mainly related to the described issues of the female world, but also felt like I (who happens to be a non-British white heterosexual woman) got an insight into modern Britain, various racial backgrounds as well as the lesbian and transgender world which was unlike any I have read before. It definitely made me curious to read more of Bernardine Evaristo's work, and will shape my view of certain topics in British society, as few current books have managed to do.

(Images: by myself)