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A review by callum_mclaughlin
Jo Cox: More in Common by Brendan Cox
5.0
Powerful. Inspiring. Necessary.
For those who don't know, Jo Cox was a humanitarian campaigner who worked with Oxfam for many years, and a member of the British parliament. In 2016, she was murdered by a white supremacist and Nazi sympathiser because of her international outlook, and her pro-Europe and pro-immigration beliefs.
The beauty (and heartbreak) of this book, written by Jo's own husband, is that it doesn't paint Jo as a politician, nor a victim, nor even some saintly figure now that she's gone. Instead, it's a portrait of a very real, very good human being, who stood with dignity and positivity for what she believed in.
This is a woman who in her first year as an MP, put as much effort into setting up an initiative to support civilians in Syria as she did an initiative to support lonely old people in her hometown; a woman who took part in parliamentary votes wearing her cycling gear so that she could rush home in time to put her kids to bed; a woman who was just as quick to publicly criticise the failings of her own Party as she was those of the opposition; a woman who was just as likely to spend her holidays volunteering with vulnerable children in Africa as she was hiking up mountains in Scotland; a woman who forgot her bike when she went on a cycling trip and often had to eat on-the-go since she was forever running late; a woman who loved to dance with her friends, brew her own elderflower champagne, and make up stories about a heroic fieldmouse called Finley for her children. This is a woman who, as she lay dying on the ground, shouted at her colleagues to run away so that they wouldn't get hurt too.
Jo's vibrancy, decency and lust for life come alive on the pages. Brendan Cox has done such an incredible job, writing with passion, grace, honesty and respect for a woman he so clearly loves and admires. In doing so, I can't see how anyone who reads it could fail to admire her and her many accomplishments too. His willingness to pick up Jo's mantle and keep her voice alive have to be praised (it's also worth noting that all his profits will go to the Jo Cox Foundation, which aims to end injustice and bring communities back together through continuing the campaigns Jo herself took on).
As Jo famously said in her maiden speech in parliament: "We are far more united, and have far more in common, than that which divides us." Let's hope Jo's story; her life, her successes, her beliefs and, indeed, her tragic death, can help to spread this vital message in a time when we could all do with hearing it.
For those who don't know, Jo Cox was a humanitarian campaigner who worked with Oxfam for many years, and a member of the British parliament. In 2016, she was murdered by a white supremacist and Nazi sympathiser because of her international outlook, and her pro-Europe and pro-immigration beliefs.
The beauty (and heartbreak) of this book, written by Jo's own husband, is that it doesn't paint Jo as a politician, nor a victim, nor even some saintly figure now that she's gone. Instead, it's a portrait of a very real, very good human being, who stood with dignity and positivity for what she believed in.
This is a woman who in her first year as an MP, put as much effort into setting up an initiative to support civilians in Syria as she did an initiative to support lonely old people in her hometown; a woman who took part in parliamentary votes wearing her cycling gear so that she could rush home in time to put her kids to bed; a woman who was just as quick to publicly criticise the failings of her own Party as she was those of the opposition; a woman who was just as likely to spend her holidays volunteering with vulnerable children in Africa as she was hiking up mountains in Scotland; a woman who forgot her bike when she went on a cycling trip and often had to eat on-the-go since she was forever running late; a woman who loved to dance with her friends, brew her own elderflower champagne, and make up stories about a heroic fieldmouse called Finley for her children. This is a woman who, as she lay dying on the ground, shouted at her colleagues to run away so that they wouldn't get hurt too.
Jo's vibrancy, decency and lust for life come alive on the pages. Brendan Cox has done such an incredible job, writing with passion, grace, honesty and respect for a woman he so clearly loves and admires. In doing so, I can't see how anyone who reads it could fail to admire her and her many accomplishments too. His willingness to pick up Jo's mantle and keep her voice alive have to be praised (it's also worth noting that all his profits will go to the Jo Cox Foundation, which aims to end injustice and bring communities back together through continuing the campaigns Jo herself took on).
As Jo famously said in her maiden speech in parliament: "We are far more united, and have far more in common, than that which divides us." Let's hope Jo's story; her life, her successes, her beliefs and, indeed, her tragic death, can help to spread this vital message in a time when we could all do with hearing it.