This is Britain as you’ve never read it.
This is Britain as it has never been told.
From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They’re each looking for something – a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope . . .
I’m a bit late to this one – have been meaning to read it for ages, and finally got round to it over Christmas. I really wish I’d read it sooner.
Unconventional, thought-provoking, pertinent, this is like a breath of fresh air.
Following twelve women in the UK, ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ explores the nature of relationships, with others and with ourselves. The twelve women are connected, their stories weaving around each other’s, each one warm, human, real.
There is no punctuation, but this is fundamental to the story-telling. The stories almost crash into one another, rolling like waves, giving the whole thing a rhythm that carries the narrative forward.
Impressive, important and well-deserving of the Booker Prize, this is a novel I’ll remember for a long time.
Alison Williams Writing 