Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo – Bed Threads

Intelligent, razor-sharp, and keenly observed, this prize-winning novel tells the stories of 12 women: all of them Black, all of them British. Their lives are interconnected, and Evaristo weaves their stories together with skill and precision. There’s Amma, the lesbian playwright, and Shirley, her oldest friend who is a teacher working in one of London’s most deprived neighbourhoods. One of her students, Carole, is now an investment banker, whose relationship with her mother Bummi, a cleaner in the city, is sometimes fraught. Evaristo’s characters leap off the page and into your imagination, sharing with you their struggles, their triumphs, and all of their hopes and dreams. Bernadine Evaristo is the author of eight books, all of which are lauded literary classics. In 2019, she became the first Black woman to win the Booker prize for Girl, Woman, Other. That same novel went on to be shortlisted for the Women’s Prize and the Orwell Prize and was named a book of the year by Barack Obama, Roxane Gay, The New Yorker, the Guardian and Vogue. She lives in London. Want to chat about what you’re reading with fellow book lovers? Join Reads. by Bed Threads, our Facebook group dedicated to all things books.