How does struggle, love, joy and imagination along with the intersectionality of feminism combine into one book.
Come along to WEP Edinburgh and the Lothians 'Book Club' on Thursday 25th March 2021 at 19:30 on Zoom where we will be discussing Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other beautifully combines these themes as she follows 12 characters in this Booker Prize winning novel.
Black women’s stories have long been misread as something they are not. It is hard to write fiction without being asked: is this story about you? And does this singular tale represent the collective black female experience? Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other turns a subtle side-eye to both questions, and makes answering them an impossible task.
Detailing the lives, most of them black British women, moving through the world in different decades and learning how to be. Each character has a chapter; within the chapters their lives overlap, but their experiences, backgrounds and choices could not be more different. There’s Amma, a lesbian socialist playwright, and non-binary Morgan, who uses the internet to navigate their gender identity – but also Shirley, a teacher who feels alien in Amma’s community, and Winsome, a bride who has arrived from Barbados to an unhappy marriage. Many of the characters are close – friends, relatives or lovers – while others simply visit the same theatre on the same night, or argue with each other on Twitter.
Living within a patriarchal society presents challenges that unite many of us. Amma is concerned with what it means to be politically pure, or to “sell out”, while another character, Carole, chases mainstream success in the world of banking. Other questions raised in the novel feel urgent yet timeless: how can a woman incorporate a relationship with a man into her feminist life? Should we show anger towards those who “get it wrong” – even if from a position of ignorance? Whose guidance should I follow? That dispensed by my mother, my university, my partner, my peers, my feminist heroes? Which bonds will last?
You are welcome to join us whether or not you have had time to read the book...
Click to Join Zoom Meeting Here Meeting ID: 856 1582 9392