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rrrebekahmay 's review for:
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
by Jeanette Winterson
This is a bit of an odd memoir. I've never read anything by Jeanette Winterson but I know of her and, of course, of [b:Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit|20800223|Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit|Jeanette Winterson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1412530068l/20800223._SY75_.jpg|1411520], so when this was picked for our book club, I was intrigued.
This is a memoir in two parts. The first is about her childhood, from her earliest memories all the way to her time at Oxford. This first part was a bit strange in that some horrible things happen to Jeanette but she tells it in a really detached sort of way. She makes it funny, yes, but the way she says it is so matter-of-fact that, every now and then, I got a bit of a shock. I imagine this is more obvious in the audiobook, where she has a similar tone throughout the whole first part of the book. She's quite blunt and she doesn't shy away from anything that happened, and I suppose that's what makes it so bearable to read when such awful, sad things are happening to her.
The second part, after a brief interlude, is essentially present day, and Jeanette's journey to finding her birth family, her mother, specifically. This was much more raw to listen to. You start to hear the emotion more in her voice, and it feels more urgent. I was actually surprised to find out that Jeanette had decided to search for her birth mother after spending so much of her life accepting that she wouldn't. You can tell it was a big turning point for her emotionally to go through this journey.
One thing I found really interesting is the way she speaks about her adoptive parents. She calls her adoptive father her dad, but her adoptive mother is always Mrs Winterson. Every now and then, she calls her 'Mum' in dialogue, but she is always 'Mrs Winterson' when being referenced. Their relationship was obviously very complicated but I always felt that, in the end, she felt that Mrs Winterson was her mother, so it's strange to see her referred to by her name instead. I'll be interested to see what discussion this opens up in book club!
I definitely recommend this one. This was a really unique memoir and Jeanette Winterson is a good storyteller, in my opinion. The audiobook is great, I loved listening to her accent, it's so soothing to hear a fellow Northern voice.
This is a memoir in two parts. The first is about her childhood, from her earliest memories all the way to her time at Oxford. This first part was a bit strange in that some horrible things happen to Jeanette but she tells it in a really detached sort of way. She makes it funny, yes, but the way she says it is so matter-of-fact that, every now and then, I got a bit of a shock. I imagine this is more obvious in the audiobook, where she has a similar tone throughout the whole first part of the book. She's quite blunt and she doesn't shy away from anything that happened, and I suppose that's what makes it so bearable to read when such awful, sad things are happening to her.
The second part, after a brief interlude, is essentially present day, and Jeanette's journey to finding her birth family, her mother, specifically. This was much more raw to listen to. You start to hear the emotion more in her voice, and it feels more urgent. I was actually surprised to find out that Jeanette had decided to search for her birth mother after spending so much of her life accepting that she wouldn't. You can tell it was a big turning point for her emotionally to go through this journey.
One thing I found really interesting is the way she speaks about her adoptive parents. She calls her adoptive father her dad, but her adoptive mother is always Mrs Winterson. Every now and then, she calls her 'Mum' in dialogue, but she is always 'Mrs Winterson' when being referenced. Their relationship was obviously very complicated but I always felt that, in the end, she felt that Mrs Winterson was her mother, so it's strange to see her referred to by her name instead. I'll be interested to see what discussion this opens up in book club!
I definitely recommend this one. This was a really unique memoir and Jeanette Winterson is a good storyteller, in my opinion. The audiobook is great, I loved listening to her accent, it's so soothing to hear a fellow Northern voice.