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blackberryjambaby's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Grief, and Homophobia
Moderate: Medical content, Racism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Colonisation, Sexism, Misogyny, Confinement, Abandonment, and Bullying
Minor: Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Death, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship
mold_munchr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I've really struggled writing about how this book made me feel. It's a lot of things, and I dont know if I'd describe it as beautiful or nice in any way, and yet reading this book meant a lot to me. So much of the story felt as though someone had entered my mind and took all my experiences, and then set them 30 years earlier in another country - which I think speaks to just how universal a queer story of religious bigotry is. It made me cry. The fantasy passages especially just hit close to home for some reason, and Winterson's use of biblical imagery was beautiful and added so much to the story (though these elements might be hard to follow if you haven't had a lot of exposure to hardcore christianity).
Mostly, though, it's a story about a complex mother/daughter relationship. I really appreciated how female-centred it was (I kept forgetting Jeanette even had a father) - this book just isn't ABOUT men, so why should they take up a significant amount of space in the writing?
This review falls short of describing this book, I don't know how to encapsulate how it made me feel. It is the realization of an experience I've struggled to put into words so many times, and somehow she pulled it off.
Mostly, though, it's a story about a complex mother/daughter relationship. I really appreciated how female-centred it was (I kept forgetting Jeanette even had a father) - this book just isn't ABOUT men, so why should they take up a significant amount of space in the writing?
This review falls short of describing this book, I don't know how to encapsulate how it made me feel. It is the realization of an experience I've struggled to put into words so many times, and somehow she pulled it off.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Racial slurs
nicnevin's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A semi-autobiographical account of a life of a child brought up in an extreme religious background and the backlash she received when her lesbianism was discovered, I couldn't put it down. I found my mind wandering through on the fairy tale aspects - I was vastly less interested in those than the actual story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Outing, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Death, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Torture, and Toxic friendship
areadingstan's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Winterson insists in the introduction of this book, that even though the novel depicts events within her own life, it is just as much fiction as it is fact.
Jeanette, the protagonist, is adopted from a young age into a Pentecostal Christian family, who are very committed. Her mother is even a missionary, and is raising her daughter to follow in her footsteps. Conflict arises when when Jeanette falls in love with another girl, which, in the 70s, in a community such as this, was quite unacceptable. We can assume the homophobia is present here without Winterson alluding to it, but it becomes more clear when Jeanette is told she cannot visit a paper shop owned by two women because they have, in her mother's words, 'unnatural passions'. This phrase is repeated throughout the novel, as Jeanette starts to express her sexuality, never worrying that she is doing anything wrong, because it comes natural.
The story is periodically interrupted by parallel fairy tales, with no indication of the change in setting but an asterisk in between paragraphs. Whether Winterson wants her readers to analyse these sprinkles of otherwordly magic or not I am not sure, but it does create a nice contrast, and I love a good fairy tale.
This book is so witty and made me laugh out loud a fair bit. Notable mentions includeMrs Arkwright, who owns a shop specialising in bug and vermin poisoning, hoping for a hot summer to boost business. And Jeanette's mum talking about a fizzing feeling she got when meeting a beautiful French man, but it turned out to be a stomach ulcer .
There are some philosophical and thoughtful musings about our existence, God, and history, which feel like the author is speaking directly to us, maybe because this story takes great inspiration from her own upbringing.
Overall, I would really recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Winterson's life, and the struggle of growing up as a queer woman in 1970s Britain, with a fair bit of religious satire thrown in. I'm eager to read more of Winterson's work now.
Jeanette, the protagonist, is adopted from a young age into a Pentecostal Christian family, who are very committed. Her mother is even a missionary, and is raising her daughter to follow in her footsteps. Conflict arises when when Jeanette falls in love with another girl, which, in the 70s, in a community such as this, was quite unacceptable. We can assume the homophobia is present here without Winterson alluding to it, but it becomes more clear when Jeanette is told she cannot visit a paper shop owned by two women because they have, in her mother's words, 'unnatural passions'. This phrase is repeated throughout the novel, as Jeanette starts to express her sexuality, never worrying that she is doing anything wrong, because it comes natural.
The story is periodically interrupted by parallel fairy tales, with no indication of the change in setting but an asterisk in between paragraphs. Whether Winterson wants her readers to analyse these sprinkles of otherwordly magic or not I am not sure, but it does create a nice contrast, and I love a good fairy tale.
This book is so witty and made me laugh out loud a fair bit. Notable mentions include
There are some philosophical and thoughtful musings about our existence, God, and history, which feel like the author is speaking directly to us, maybe because this story takes great inspiration from her own upbringing.
Overall, I would really recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Winterson's life, and the struggle of growing up as a queer woman in 1970s Britain, with a fair bit of religious satire thrown in. I'm eager to read more of Winterson's work now.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
pageleanor's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Homophobia
vanessa_reads_a_lot's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
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