Girl, Woman, Other

What it is about

Bernardine Evaristo follows twelve primarily Black British women and nonbinary people across generations, regions, professions, politics, and intimate lives. Its flowing, lightly punctuated form lets apparently separate stories revise one another, replacing a single representative identity with a network of contradiction, inheritance, conflict, and unexpected relation. Its place here is personal: I want the argument to meet the life I am actually living.

Why I keep it

Twelve women, one voice each. I heard every one.

Key ideas

Beside it on the shelf · Literature & Fiction