A review by ahbartlett
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

5.0

A wonderful and gorgeous yet difficult and challenging read. This was replete with sentences where I would simply have to stare at a wall and process what I’d exactly read. Her descriptions of growing up in an evangelical environment and feeling like you weren’t quite “normal” within that environment  really resonated.

Two such passages include:  

  • “‘The Lord forgives and forgets,' the pastor told me. Perhaps The Lord does, but my mother didn't.” - this was very funny in the context of my religious mother’s own mantra of “Never forgive, never forget.” I think this was where the similarities between my own mother and Jeanette’s stop, but perhaps there are common threads in how the religious experience their faith in theory vs. in practice.
  • “I miss God. I miss the company of someone utterly loyal. I still don't think of God as my betrayer. The servants of God, yes, but servants by their very nature betray. I miss God who was my friend. I don't even know if God exists, but I do know that if God is your emotional role model, very few human relationships will match up to it.” And if that doesn’t sum up my own feelings post religious deconstruction quite well! 

The storybook interludes detracted from the book for me and were why I almost didn’t give this a perfect 5/5. However, the emotional weight at the core of this book - and the eloquence with which it’s articulated - outweighs this for me. I can’t wait to read everything Jeanette Winterson has ever written. 
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