Books
by Jeanette Winterson
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The Passion |
It is a fantasy, a dream, a story of history and hero worship, the plight of women, pains of soldiering, the violence of youth and the sadness of unfulfilled humanity. It has roots in Virginia Woolf and is as moving and funny as it is skilful. Gore Vidal once said she was the most interesting young writer he had read in 20 Years. I would disagree, it was hard going.
(Shirley Williams - bwl 83 Winter 2016) |
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Why be Happy When You Could be Normal |
A courageous memoir from the author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Adopted by a dysfunctional Pentecostal couple, aged 16 she was evicted by her mother so set up home in a car and put herself through university. Written with a light touch, it is a journey of pain, humour and the will to survive and grow as a person. All this built on her love of books which, other than the bible, her mother saw as works of the devil.
(Lynda Johnson - bwl 97 Summer 2020) |
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Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? |
This - after her semi-autobiographical Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit - is the real thing, written after a journey into 'madness' lead her to re-evaluate her past and her relationship to it. Adopted by a terrifying Pentecostal mother, she survived by clandestinely reading 'English Fiction from A to Z' from the public library. It's a lucidly truthful and startlingly philosophical story of a child's instinctive drive to find happiness and love against all the odds. Absolutely exceptional.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 65 Summer 2011) |
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