Scan barcode
aseel_reads's review
5.0
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Racism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Death of parent
leanneymu's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Racism, Classism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
therecoveringbookworm's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Classism, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Sexism
Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
kirstym25's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse
readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition
4.0
I read Girl, Woman, Other in 2021 and loved it, so when I saw that Bernardine Evaristo had a memoir coming out, I was keen to pick it up. I was interested to know more about her as a person and this book certainly delivered.
Evaristo chronicles her childhood growing up in London, her life as a writer, her process for writing, and how she became an activist involved in theatre and mentoring young people of colour. She describes how she discovered in her youth that she liked women (cataloguing one particularly toxic, emotionally abusive relationship in startling detail), but later in life felt that she preferred men.
She also describes the racism she's endured over the decades and what it was like to meet Margaret Atwood at the bottom of the stairs to the stage, knowing they had both just won the Booker Prize. Evaristo has had such an interesting life and she narrates it all with a clarity and candor that make this a really engaging read.
Content warnings for discussions of racism and sexism, break ins, emotionally abusive, toxic relationships, domestic abuse.
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
4.5
Manifesto is an enlightening and thoughtful memoir by Bernardine Evaristo reflecting on how factors such as her family, her different homes, relationships, theatre experience and more impacted her creative process and her career to date. I especially loved the chapter where she shared how each of her books came to be and describes her writing process. I was impressed by her persistence and her activism. Forging a career in the creative field is not easy, especially when gender and race are factored in, but she did not/could not give up and works hard to ensure that opportunities exist for other Black women as well . The grace with which she handled the issues surrounding her Booker Prize win also caught my attention. This book lacks most conventional punctuation yet I found I was quickly immersed in Bernardine’s story and I didn’t miss it. I read that a dyslexic reader was able to whizz through the book since there was no punctuation to trip her up. Something to think about especially in light of accessibility and equality for the disabled and differently abled.
Moderate: Racism and Toxic relationship
nialiversuch's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Infidelity, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Slavery, Cursing, and Religious bigotry
figgy_pudding's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Racism and Toxic relationship