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A review by jaclyn_sixminutesforme
Farewell, My Orange by Iwaki Kei
5.0
This debut novel comes in at just 135 pages and traverses an immense character study of two migrant women and their experiences settling into life in country-town Australia. While it is a quiet exploration of migration and identity, on a more meta-level it is also a cleverly structured analysis of storytelling.
Farewell, My Orange explores the universality of women’s experiences (quite literally watching the same sunrise, for example) but specifically hones in on the difficulties experienced by migrant women in Australia because of issues like language barriers, racism, and social expectations. While it covers some dark and deep-rooted issues, ultimately this is a story of the triumph of female friendships and the power of women retaining agency in their own narratives.
We follow Salimah and Sayuri, whose paths cross when they attend an English language class together. What is unique about the narrative is the way each of the women have their story told. Salimah’s narrative is in third person perspective, and carries the momentum of the plot, while Sayuri communicates her story in the form of letters she writes to her former creative writing teacher. The alternating perspectives were fascinating in juxtaposition, and in retrospect were essential to what Kei seeks to demonstrate about narratives more broadly. This is a striking and unique read, and one likely to be devoured in a single-sitting!
Farewell, My Orange explores the universality of women’s experiences (quite literally watching the same sunrise, for example) but specifically hones in on the difficulties experienced by migrant women in Australia because of issues like language barriers, racism, and social expectations. While it covers some dark and deep-rooted issues, ultimately this is a story of the triumph of female friendships and the power of women retaining agency in their own narratives.
We follow Salimah and Sayuri, whose paths cross when they attend an English language class together. What is unique about the narrative is the way each of the women have their story told. Salimah’s narrative is in third person perspective, and carries the momentum of the plot, while Sayuri communicates her story in the form of letters she writes to her former creative writing teacher. The alternating perspectives were fascinating in juxtaposition, and in retrospect were essential to what Kei seeks to demonstrate about narratives more broadly. This is a striking and unique read, and one likely to be devoured in a single-sitting!