Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo
Review by Priscilla Comen
Girl, Woman, Other
Bernardine Evaristo
Review by Priscilla Comen
Girl, Woman, Other, by Bernardine Evaristo, is the story of Amma and her running mate, Dominique. The new female artistic director of the National Theater has called Amma and asked her to direct her own play, one of the fifteen she’s written. She’s not an amateur, but this time there’s a fantastic cast. Author Evaristo’s writing style is unique and she describes each member of the cast with vibrant and distinct voices.
Amma’s mum worked eight hours a day, raised four children, and had dinner on the table every night. Dad was off saving the world, and preached socialism during dinner. He doesn’t know Amma is a lesbian, but Mum does. Amma and Dominique formed Bush Women Theater Company, got sets from junk yards, rehearsed in living rooms, and bought costumes from thrift shops. Amma worked at hamburger joints to supplement her income, and lived alone.
The night when she arrives at the National Theater, over a thousand people are there, among them, Roland. When Amma decided she wanted a child, Roland had agreed to be the father. Yazz was born nineteen years ago, in a birthing pool with music, incense, and a midwife. Roland takes Yazz every other week-end, but she is now at university. Amma misses her. Yazz’ best friends are Waris and Courtney, from the university. All are at the theater to see Amma’s play. Roland’s budget for clothes would pay Yazz’ university fee for a year. He’s the country’s first Professor of Modern Life at University of London.
Yazz’ friend Waris, wears a hijab and lots of foundation, mascara, and eyebrow pencil. She wears sun glasses indoors and at night to make herself look fearless. Nenet, another friend’s grandfather worked with Mubarak in Egypt, and her family fled when his government fell. The friends meet at Nenet’s family home and discuss plans for summer break. Nenet admits she doesn’t have to do any reading because she commissions her essays from a retired academic. Yazz is shocked. She thinks Nenet is a spoiled, lazy immoral princess. Yazz is going for a Masters in journalism and plans to live with her mom, rent-free.
Dominique follows a new friend, Nzinga, to America where they build affordable houses for lesbian women. They live in a log cabin surrounded by forest. No men are allowed in the compound. The others think Dominique is unusual, a black British woman. Nzinga is controlling, cleans the cabin, cooks the meals, calls Dominique "Sojourner," and washes their clothes. Eventually, Dominique regains her former self and pride, and flees from Nzinga. She lives in America for thirty years with Lavern where they adopt two children.
We meet Carole, who, at the train station, thinks about flinging herself in front of an oncoming train to find eternal peace. At night, she’s on her computer, checking websites for stock markets and international news that affect the market. Often she’s on til after midnight. She had been raped repeatedly at a party when she was thirteen, and never told anyone. After not caring about her education, one day she went to see the “Dragon Teacher,” Mrs. King She asked what classes she should take to get into which universities after senior year. Mrs. King told her, and four years later she was accepted to Oxford University. When she wanted to quit, her mama told her about famous black women who had risen to prominence in Parliament and politics. She found a boyfriend, a white man from Kenya who treated her nicely. She’s now vice president of a bank, promoted from hundreds of others. The man from Kenya went back, married, and had children. Carole goes with Freddy, just a good friend, to see a play about lesbians at the National. Author Evaristo weaves these characters together, and the reader begins to know them well.
We meet Bummi and see her life as an orphan growing up in Nigeria. Then she has Carole and makes sure she is educated. She borrowed money from her minister and formed her own cleaning company, with many women of color working for her. She trained them to be professionals. Bummi met Kofi and married him shortly after Carole married Freddy. They both had small weddings in registry offices. When Shirley, not yet Mrs. King, begins her teaching career, she feels she’ll be an inspiration to her students, even though she’s black. She shows her students photos of lynchings in the South of the U.S. and photos of concentration camp survivors in Germany during WWII. She believes the students are mostly monsters, except for Carole, who wants to go to University. Shirley still believes education can transform lives.
Winsome is Shirley’s mother and likes to entertain the family at her seaside cottage in Barbados, loves giving nourishment and pleasure to her family. Then we meet Penelope who had been found on the steps of a church with no clues. She discovered the people who found her were not her parents, and eventually married Giles. When she said she wanted to be a teacher, Giles said no. She divorced him after reading Betty Friedan and realizing she was a free woman who could do what she liked.
At a party after the play at the National, everyone praises Amma and there’s a five star review from critics. Roland sees Shirley and Dominque there too. Yazz hugs Roland who is famous but doesn’t feel Yazz appreciates him. Carole and Freddy are there too. Mrs. King greets Carole, who oozes success. Carole thanks Shirley for her help years ago. Penelope has decided to have a DNA test to find her real family. What do the results tell her? Does the reader know her mother? Does Penelope meet her? Author Evaristo won the Booker Prize in 2019 and is the first black woman to do so. This is a moving and imaginative story and can be found on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
Amma’s mum worked eight hours a day, raised four children, and had dinner on the table every night. Dad was off saving the world, and preached socialism during dinner. He doesn’t know Amma is a lesbian, but Mum does. Amma and Dominique formed Bush Women Theater Company, got sets from junk yards, rehearsed in living rooms, and bought costumes from thrift shops. Amma worked at hamburger joints to supplement her income, and lived alone.
The night when she arrives at the National Theater, over a thousand people are there, among them, Roland. When Amma decided she wanted a child, Roland had agreed to be the father. Yazz was born nineteen years ago, in a birthing pool with music, incense, and a midwife. Roland takes Yazz every other week-end, but she is now at university. Amma misses her. Yazz’ best friends are Waris and Courtney, from the university. All are at the theater to see Amma’s play. Roland’s budget for clothes would pay Yazz’ university fee for a year. He’s the country’s first Professor of Modern Life at University of London.
Yazz’ friend Waris, wears a hijab and lots of foundation, mascara, and eyebrow pencil. She wears sun glasses indoors and at night to make herself look fearless. Nenet, another friend’s grandfather worked with Mubarak in Egypt, and her family fled when his government fell. The friends meet at Nenet’s family home and discuss plans for summer break. Nenet admits she doesn’t have to do any reading because she commissions her essays from a retired academic. Yazz is shocked. She thinks Nenet is a spoiled, lazy immoral princess. Yazz is going for a Masters in journalism and plans to live with her mom, rent-free.
Dominique follows a new friend, Nzinga, to America where they build affordable houses for lesbian women. They live in a log cabin surrounded by forest. No men are allowed in the compound. The others think Dominique is unusual, a black British woman. Nzinga is controlling, cleans the cabin, cooks the meals, calls Dominique "Sojourner," and washes their clothes. Eventually, Dominique regains her former self and pride, and flees from Nzinga. She lives in America for thirty years with Lavern where they adopt two children.
We meet Carole, who, at the train station, thinks about flinging herself in front of an oncoming train to find eternal peace. At night, she’s on her computer, checking websites for stock markets and international news that affect the market. Often she’s on til after midnight. She had been raped repeatedly at a party when she was thirteen, and never told anyone. After not caring about her education, one day she went to see the “Dragon Teacher,” Mrs. King She asked what classes she should take to get into which universities after senior year. Mrs. King told her, and four years later she was accepted to Oxford University. When she wanted to quit, her mama told her about famous black women who had risen to prominence in Parliament and politics. She found a boyfriend, a white man from Kenya who treated her nicely. She’s now vice president of a bank, promoted from hundreds of others. The man from Kenya went back, married, and had children. Carole goes with Freddy, just a good friend, to see a play about lesbians at the National. Author Evaristo weaves these characters together, and the reader begins to know them well.
We meet Bummi and see her life as an orphan growing up in Nigeria. Then she has Carole and makes sure she is educated. She borrowed money from her minister and formed her own cleaning company, with many women of color working for her. She trained them to be professionals. Bummi met Kofi and married him shortly after Carole married Freddy. They both had small weddings in registry offices. When Shirley, not yet Mrs. King, begins her teaching career, she feels she’ll be an inspiration to her students, even though she’s black. She shows her students photos of lynchings in the South of the U.S. and photos of concentration camp survivors in Germany during WWII. She believes the students are mostly monsters, except for Carole, who wants to go to University. Shirley still believes education can transform lives.
Winsome is Shirley’s mother and likes to entertain the family at her seaside cottage in Barbados, loves giving nourishment and pleasure to her family. Then we meet Penelope who had been found on the steps of a church with no clues. She discovered the people who found her were not her parents, and eventually married Giles. When she said she wanted to be a teacher, Giles said no. She divorced him after reading Betty Friedan and realizing she was a free woman who could do what she liked.
At a party after the play at the National, everyone praises Amma and there’s a five star review from critics. Roland sees Shirley and Dominque there too. Yazz hugs Roland who is famous but doesn’t feel Yazz appreciates him. Carole and Freddy are there too. Mrs. King greets Carole, who oozes success. Carole thanks Shirley for her help years ago. Penelope has decided to have a DNA test to find her real family. What do the results tell her? Does the reader know her mother? Does Penelope meet her? Author Evaristo won the Booker Prize in 2019 and is the first black woman to do so. This is a moving and imaginative story and can be found on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.