Article contributed by Laura Glassman
Bernadine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other is a sharply observed portrayal of the lives of twelve people (eleven black women and one non-binary person) who live in modern-day England. Through sharp and observant prose, Evaristo tells the stories of their lives, the relationships they each form, and the complex social context of their stories. This is a book for readers who love to engage with stories about diverse identities and voices and who will appreciate commentary about a wide variety of social issues impacting the characters’ lives.
Evaristos’s style is unusual and atypical for a novel. Her novel reads as somewhere in between poetry and prose, a series of brief lines broken by pauses, tied together in short paragraphs. It is almost like poetry. It is not a typical novel also in that it is for the most part not an ongoing story which follows the characters, but rather, a series of vignettes focusing on one character at a time. The writing is fast paced, generally upbeat, and richly descriptive.
The novel’s great strength is in its nuanced writing about the vastly different social issues that impact the lives of the various characters. Evaristo is highly observant of people and their interactions with one another, from friends, neighbours, and family to romantic relationships. She never shies away from discussing the relevant issues in British society that affect them and that are woven into the context of their lives. In Amma’s story she relays the differences between different populations in Amma’s building, from varying genders and sexualities to different types of feminists. She describes Yazz’s feelings about having a polyamorous lesbian mother and an academic, narcissistic, gay dad, and Yazz’s friend’s thoughts on being a Somali Muslim woman and what people should never say to her. Yazz’s astute observations of her friends in terms of their class differences and relative privilege is fascinating. This is a book that is brimming with timely and astute insights into British society and the lives of a multicultural and vibrant cast of characters. Virtually every passage is filled with astute commentary about people and their differences and struggles.
Although each chapter focuses on one character, the stories are somewhat interconnected, as characters often have a connection with a character in a preceding chapter. For instance, the first character, Amma, appears in Dominique’s story later on to help her through a relationship issue. Although the central focus of each chapter is on the ups and downs of one character’s life, it is interesting to see familiar characters from earlier chapters making appearances and having an impact their life in some small way. In one particularly interesting point of connection, one woman’s chapter mentions her interaction with a teacher whom she dislikes, while the following chapter tells the teacher’s perspective. We learn through the teacher’s perspective what her experiences and perspectives are as a teacher and with respect to the students she encounters. In this way, Evaristo astutely examines people and issues from different sides and puts people’s lives into context.
Girl, Woman, Other broaches a number of fascinating and important topics and themes. Identity is a substantial topic in the novel. Identity is explored among the characters in terms of gender, sexuality, privilege and class, immigration status, religion and race, feminism and more. Amma’s story showcases her experiences in the world as a lesbian feminist among neighbours and community members with different identities. Bummi’s story delves into her concerns about being a black woman living in England who is Nigerian and not just a Londoner or just simply black. How does this character navigate a world where there are black women with so many different backgrounds and identities and maintain her sense of self in terms of your specific background? Additionally, how do English people see her as someone whose work is as a cleaning person but who was highly educated in her home country? Yet another fascinating story is that of Megan/Morgan, a “gender-free” individual and their experiences navigating the world, their familial relationships and romance as a non-binary person.
One downside to the unusual style of Girl, Woman, Other is that as a result of the short story-like structure, it feels as though time with each character moves very quickly. Thus, it feels as though, however, brilliant the substance of the book, you do not gain as complete or in depth of an understanding of each character as you would with a different kind of novel where you follow characters throughout the length of the book. The writing is experimental and exuberant and lovely in some ways, but a bit too abbreviated feeling in other ways. The characters themselves are fascinating, unusual and multifaceted but readers may feel somewhat at a distance from them. They are clearly all interesting people yet you may want to know more or feel that you would like to get to know them better when each story ends. This book is recommended more for people who would enjoy an interconnected set of short stories, rather than one long, ongoing story that follows characters continuously.
One of the strengths of the novel is the way Evaristo touches upon multiple weighty, important issues which impact her characters’ lives. However, the writing never feels unduly heavy. In fact, much of the book is a very lively and often feels joyous. Evaristo weaves together a vibrant tapestry of people’s lives through her storytelling. Evaristo’s writing shines through the way it brings to life each of her characters’ unique stories, each with its own problems, joys and successes. No one story is remotely alike, and this makes each character’s story interesting to follow. Evaristo’s brilliance, however, is in the way she delves into so very many significant aspects of identity and life in British society, shining a light onto so many aspects of black womanhood and personhood.
Girl, Woman, Other is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Teeming with life and crackling with energy — a love song to modern Britain and black womanhood
Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years.
Joyfully polyphonic and vibrantly contemporary, this is a gloriously new kind of history, a novel of our times: celebratory, ever-dynamic and utterly irresistible.
