Girl, Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaristo – Bookrush 3

Trigger warning for rape, lynching, homophobia, racism, transphobia

Blurb:
This is Britain as you’ve never read it.
This is Britain as it has never been told.

From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They’re each looking for something – a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope . . .

My thoughts
This book is incredible, it really makes you question what your parents, grandparents and way further back did to bring you into the world, all of their decisions that have impacted their lives as well as yours without you even realising it.

It also make you question ‘gender norms’. For example, what are the definitions of masculinity and feminity? Are there general definitions or are they based on what you perceive?

For me it made me question what I thought about feminity, I grew up in a country where girls wore pink, flowers, sparkly princess tops and I never wanted that. I thought there was something wrong with me for wanting to wear the ‘boys’ clothes that were black, blue, ‘no fear’ clothes.

This book follows the lives of 12 women over a hundered years in Britain, and I found it so fascinating how they were all connected in some way or another, and how their lives are so completely different from one anothers.

Evaristo really did an amazing job of making me question the world around me and how so many people can interpret the same information in different ways. It is a truly magnificent book.

I also thought it was amazing how she described transitioning. As a cisgendered person I will never fully comprehend both the physical and mental impact transitioning has on a persons life, however, this book did give me an eye opening insight into some of the thoughts and emotions experience by someone transitioning before and during the process. It is a great way to find out some information and start conversations about subjects that can be very personal to someone who is transitioning.