A review by plumjam
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

5.0

"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] would cross seas and suffer sunstroke and give away all I have, but not for a man, because they want to be the destroyer and never the destroyed."
"The unknownness of my needs frightens me. I do not know how huge they are, I only know that they are not being met."

I have been reading this as an ebook borrowed from my library and I am very eager to get my hands on my own personal copy as soon as possible. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit beautifully portrays the kind of grief and isolation one goes through when they become estranged from Christianity and the sense of community from the church they were raised in is no longer home, especially as a queer person. Jeanette successfully captures the sense of losing something fundamental while also feeling betrayed and bitter. "There is much pain here. Some people think you can have your cake and eat it. The cake goes moldy and they choke on what's left", "But betrayal is betrayal wherever you find it. By betrayal, I mean promising to be on your side, then being on somebody else's". The ending isn't a happy one, but there is some solace. Easily a new favorite.