Thursday, August 15, 2024

Girl, Woman, Other - Bernadine Evaristo

 



The story of 12 Black British women spread across Britain and other continents.


Amma, a lesbian who started her drama troupe and is putting up the grand mega show of her latest play - The Last Amazon of Dahomey.


Yazz, Amma’s teenage daughter, is at the university. Born to a gay father, Roland and a lesbian Amma.

Dominique, Amma’s partner with whom she started the drama troupe. She later moves away from her when she finds solace in Nzinga.

Carole, is a hardworking woman who found her way into the top of the corporate world. A daughter of Nigerian parents, and marries a white man against their wish.

Bummi, Carole’s mom, had to work her ass off sweeping floors to get a good education for her daughter. A bisexual who found solace in another woman in her later life.

LaTisha, Carole’s classmate, who is a supermarket manager. She became a mom at 16 and got thrown out of her house. Have three kids from different relationships.

Shirley, Amma’s unglamorous friend, the strict teacher at Carole and LaTisha’s school. She helps Carole to get back to her studies once she falters. 

Winsome, Shirley’s mother from the Caribbean, has an affair with Lennox, Shirley’s husband. She was once in Britain and worked as a ticket checker to bring her kids up.

Penelope, Shirley’s senior colleague from school, who, at first, is not always in agreement with her. But later they become friends. She gets the shock of her life from her parents when they tell her that she was adopted. 

Megan/Morgan, a transgender man who was born female and later changed sex. He meets Bibi, who was born male and became a woman. He is the great-grandson of nonagenarian Hattie, the only person who recognises them in their family.

Hattie, is the matriarch of the family that owns Greenfields Farms, which is spread across acres of land in the Northumbrian countryside. She holds a secret in her life, a secret which is very pivotal to the climax.

Grace, who came into the world courtesy of a seaman from Abyssinia, is Hattie’s mother. Grace never knew who her father was. She married Joseph Rydendale who owned the farms. Hattie was her only kid who survived.

This novel is the story of these 12 women, who have struggled to live a respected life, be it due to their colour or their sexual orientation. While it may seem that Amma’s play is the centre point of the book, it is just a melting pot for some of the characters to get back and rekindle their relationships. Each of these characters is individually strong and their own story is told from their chapter and other chapters. The last few pages of the book are where the novel takes it to a different level and concludes. Truly, a masterpiece. 

It is also the history of Britain. The differential treatment of Black people across the country is depicted in this novel. The writing is freewheeling and bold. Bernadine uses different writing techniques to convey different experiences. She calls the technique fusion fiction. It may take time to get used to this sort of writing, but 10-15 pages in you are all set for great storytelling.

Don’t miss.

Sunday, January 07, 2024

Books read in 2023


At the start of the last year, I decided to put quality and bigger books into the reading plan rather than quantity. Even then I kept a challenging target of 43 books. I thought reading would be easier than last year. However, it was severely affected due to various factors. Yet, I am glad and grateful that I managed to read these books and write and publish 3 articles. 


So here goes them, in the order of completion.


1. ബുക്സ്റ്റാൾജിയ - പി. കെ. രാജശേഖരൻ 2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon 3. ചുവന്ന ബാഡ്ജ് - രാജേഷ് ആർ വർമ്മ 4. ഇതിഹാസത്തിൻ്റെ ഇതിഹാസം - ഒ.വി. വിജയൻ 5. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - Shehan Karunatilaka 6. വല്ലി - ഷീലാ ടോമി 7. പടിഞ്ഞാറെ കൊല്ലം ചോരക്കാലം - ജി. ഇന്ദുഗോപൻ 8. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood. 9. IIT മദ്രാസ് - കെ. വി. മണികണ്ഠൻ 10. പൊനം - കെ. എൻ. പ്രശാന്ത് 11. The Bookshop - Penelope Cruz 12. സിംഹത്തിൻ്റെ കഥ - അഖിൽ. കെ. 13. മാസ്റ്റർപീസ് - ഫ്രാൻസിസ് നോറോണ 14. A Case of Exploding Mangoes - Mohammed Hanif. 15. Hellfire - Leesa Gazi 16. Man Tiger - Eka Kurniawan 17. My Father's Garden - Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar. 18. Purgatory - Tomás Eloy Martínez 19. കന്യാവനങ്ങൾ - പുനത്തിൽ കുഞ്ഞബ്ദുള്ള 20. മഞ്ഞ് - എം. ടി. (re-read) 21. The Museum Of Innocence - Orhan Pamuk 22. ദത്താപഹാരം - വി. ജെ ജെയിംസ് 23. The Laughing Policeman - Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö 24. Sakina’s Kiss - Vivek Shanbhag 25. Segu - Maryse Condé 26. കാരി, ഒരു ദളിത് ദൈവത്തിന്റെ ജീവിത രേഖ - താഹ മാടായി 27. The Honjin Murders - Seishi Yokomizo 28. കിഷ്കിന്ധയുടെ മൗനം - ജയപ്രകാശ് പാനൂർ 29. വിശുദ്ധപാപങ്ങളുടെ ഇന്ത്യ - അരുൺ എഴുത്തച്ഛൻ 30. Kiss of the Spider woman - Manuel Puig 31. My Documents - Alejandro Zambra 32. The Lost Steps - Alejo Carpentier


My Top 5 Malayalam Recommendations


വല്ലി

ചുവന്ന ബാഡ്ജ്

പൊനം

സിംഹത്തിൻ്റെ കഥ

വിശുദ്ധപാപങ്ങളുടെ ഇന്ത്യ


My Top 5 English Recommendations


The Lost Steps

Sakina’s Kiss

Hellfire

Segu

Purgatory


Special Mentions


The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

My Documents

ബുക്സ്റ്റാൾജിയ

Kiss of the Spider woman

A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Man Tiger

The Museum Of Innocence 

The Laughing Policeman


Many thanks to Shimmy for asking about my reading and recommending new books. A few Malayalam ones that I read this year would be from his recommendation. A detailed review of all these books are available on my Instagram.


Happy Reading to you all in 2024!