Monday, June 22, 2020

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo


Girl, Woman, Other follows the lives and struggles of twelve very different characters. Mostly women, black and British, they tell the stories of their families, friends and lovers, across the country and through the years.
  • Chapter one: Amma, Yazz, Dominique
  • Chapter two: Carole, Bummi, LaTisha
  • Chapter three: Shirley, Winsome, Penelope
  • Chapter four: Megan/Morgan, Hattie, Grace
  • Chapter five: the after party
  • Epilogue
Book Club Questions about Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Anglo-Nigerian writer Bernardine Evaristo is the winner of the 2019 Booker Prize and the first black woman to receive this highest literary honor in the English language. She is the celebrated author of eight books, which have been nominated for awards including the 2019 Booker Prize. Her writing is characterized by experimentation, daring, subversion, and challenging the myths of various Afro-diasporic histories and identities, and her books range in genre from poetry to short story to drama to criticism. She lives in London.

1)   Evaristo says that she has no problem acknowledging herself as a Black British woman and writing from this perspective. Which fictional character in the book do you think has the most or least awareness of their own personal identity?
- Shirley didn’t know her husband was having an affair with her mother.

2)   Which character in the text has the greatest sense of ‘entitlement’? Why do you think this?
- Amma had a house and access which made it possible for her to do her art

3)   Which relationship in the book do you find most credible and why? Which relationship do you find least credible and why?
- Would an adopted child find their parent.
- Morgan transition happened kind of fast. Maybe grabbling with the emotions was missing?

4)   What ‘social’ or ‘political’ issue did you feel you became more knowledgeable about after reading the book?
- Parts of Africa story
- Maybe Nzinga going from Africa to the U.S. in that cult 

5)   The stories of the women in the book frequently overlap, yet it is possible to read the different sections as mini-books in their own right. To what extent do you think the whole text needs to be read to truly understand the issues explored in it.
- it reads well as individual stories and doesn’t need to be read as a whole book

6)   How sympathetically do you think men are portrayed in the novel? Do you have any comment about whether they are under-represented in the text, which is a criticism that could be made about the book.
- Many characters ended up with men who allowed them to have “comfort”
- most of the men were jerks, so it was nice to see some provide the comfort at the end of their lives 

7)   Shirley’s mother sleeps with her husband and is never found out? How did you respond to this betrayal?
- Shirley was naïve.

8)   There are many betrayals in the book. What, in your opinion do you think is the greatest betrayal and why?
- Shirley’s mother and Lennox
- Penelope’s parents tell her that they aren’t their parents (Hattie is her mom)

9)   If you could be friends with any character in the book who would you choose and why?
- Amma for the theater
- Morgan
- Hattie, a good model

Book Club Questions for the attendee who didn’t read the book!
1)   The ‘older generation’ are often excused for not understanding transgender issues and labels such as ‘binary.’ Is this an acceptable position to hold?
2)   Carole failed to thank her teacher for helping her ‘get ahead’ in life. Is there a teacher who you should have thanked and didn’t in your life? What did they do to help you?
3)   Dominique spends many years berating herself for ‘staying in an abusive relationship’ with another woman. Why do women, (if they do, and if you don’t think they do let’s explore this) still blame themselves for the abuse imposed on them.
4)   Evaristo talks about her writing style as a fusion of prose and poetry. She is free and easy in her use of capitalization and punctuation. To what extent are you a traditionalist regarding spelling, grammar and punctuation?
5)   Can the claim that a text is a book for a female audience or a book for a black female audience ever be a legitimate one?