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Original poster

Girl, Woman, Other... What did you think?

27 replies

OilBaron · 12/08/2020 15:49

Sorry if this has been done elsewhere - I did search but I couldn't find anything.

Has anyone else read 'Girl, Woman, Other'? What did you think?

I looked at it several times but decided against it because of the writing style. I absolutely despise writers that play with writing form, just for the sake of it. It always smacks of literary exclusion (only clever people can read this), or a strategic play (trying something different to get a prize).

So I thought I'd hate it. But then a friend bought it for me as a present so I decided to give it a go. That was yesterday evening and I've just finished it. I can't remember the last time I devoured a book that quickly.

I loved it. I have some reservations (Morgan/Megan's chapter was very clunky; at times it felt like leftist academic Twitter distilled into a novel; I struggled to identify with some of the characters; it had a bit of a gushy 'everyone gets a happy ending' vibe) but, overall, what a great work!

What did you all think?

OP posts:
Original poster
OilBaron · 12/08/2020 17:52

One of the few books I’ve read recently I was sorry to end! YES, this is exactly how I feel about it.

I've got more of Bernadine Evaristo's books on order now Grin

I didn't necessarily mean just that the play was a success, more that all of the characters in each chapter seemed to all turn out okay and well in the end. I don't think it detracted from the overall quality but it felt a bit gushy at times. Like, where are the women who end up dead at the hands of violent partners? Or on the street with crippling drug addictions?

OP posts:
SJaneS48 · 12/08/2020 16:56

Loved it! I was initially annoyed by unstructured writing style and thought it was going to make it a gruelling read but once I got used to it, all was fine. Some of the characters were better developed and more interesting than others. Yes it ends with the play being a success, the mother-daughter reunion etc but it wasn’t the worse for it. One of the few books I’ve read recently I was sorry to end!