M&B April Book Pick: Girl, Woman, Other

Girl, Women, Other by Bernardine Evaristo is a glorious sequence of character studies, strung together like a necklace by the interwoven lives of nearly a dozen black British women. The women in this book are alive, their essence becomes clear in a matter of a few dozen pages. It is an extraordinary novel for it provides a more humanized explanation on what intersectional feminism means and why it is important. 

Photo: Net-a-Porter

Each chapter is broken down into three sections, each section in the voice of a new woman. These women live rich, complex lives (as we humans tend to do) and as such, the book explores the gamut of life’s most challenging experiences and axles of disparity - economic, religious, sexual orientation, gender expression, trauma, abuse, immigration, (mis)education, and unique family structures. Each chapter explores the complex connective tissues in mother-daughter relationships; in female friendships; in workplace connections. 

And while that may sound too heavy or perhaps too dense, I can assure you it’s not. It’s beautiful - the book is written like poetry, it flows without pause and is almost lyrical. Each story fits with the next like a puzzle piece, and each time you meet a new woman, you come to realize just how much of a disservice we can do to secondary characters in a plot when we don’t examine them further - a good lesson for life. Practice kindness and non-judgement... Everyone has a story.