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Wow—so far this book is fulfilling all my expectations for a crazy, loud, messy, loving family and friends scene! Two things I wanted to ask you about right off the bat. First of all, how are you finding author Bernardine Evaristo’s unique writing style for this book, with no real punctuation, both truncated and extended sentences and a storyline that jumps in time a bit? It seems to me that the time frame ranges from early 1960s to current day. Secondly, this story is strictly told from a female point of view—there are no main characters that are male. How are you enjoying being immersed in a universe of women?

In chapter one we meet and get a little of the back story of three of the characters. The first person is Amma. I feel like Amma is the protagonist of this book, don’t you? She appears to be the thread that links these women’s stories together, as names Amma mentions in her personal narrative show up as future chapter sections in the table of contents. Amma, a career playwright getting ready for opening night of her debut at the National Theatre of Great Britain, reviews her own life as a writer activist, a formidable person who wouldn’t be put off by being told no and even founded her own theater company for women of color. Poised on the cusp of huge success, some of Amma’s memories make her feel concerned about the idea of selling out. Why do you think Amma feels this way? How do you think the life experiences that Amma describes have gotten her to this tremendous moment in her life?

Amma shares her interpretation of her parents’ marriage; a relationship in which she views her mother as “…an apologist for the patriarchy and complicit in a system that oppresses all women” for what Amma sees as her mother’s subservient behavior towards her father, a man Amma describes as “President for Life” in her family. I loved her mother’s response to her daughter’s tough criticism: “human beings are complex”. Sort of another way of saying it’s complicated, right? After her parents passed away, how did Amma’s view of them change? How about Amma’s view of herself after losing her folks?

The next character we meet is Yazz, Amma’s daughter, who Amma described in her section of the book as her “counter cultural experiment”. Yazz is great fun, isn’t she? Such a vibrant, intelligent young woman, learning who she is and figuring out what she wants to do. I feel like the author does a great job depicting Yazz at that point when as young adult you think you’ve got the world figured out until suddenly…you don’t. How does Yazz’s view of her mother compare with Amma’s view of herself? How does Yazz’s opinion of her own father compare to Amma’s opinion of her own father, Yazz’s grandfather?  Yazz also shares the details of her four close friends from university who’ve become her ‘squad’, all from very different backgrounds. One of her friends comes from a very affluent background, and after visiting at that friend’s house, Yazz realizes that “…knowing someone comes from money isn’t the same as witnessing the extent of it in close proximity”. What do you think Yazz means by that? Yazz worries that these college friendships that seem so all important might not last when school is over. What is developing that causes Yazz to feel that way? What did you take away from Courtney and Yazz’s discussion about “checking your privilege” in a relative and contextual manner?

Chapter one finishes up with Dominique’s story, Amma’s best friend and one-time brief love, whose move to America Amma laments back at the beginning of the book. Now we learn the story of Dominique’s ‘’…great love that changes everything”. Nzinga (aka Cindy) arrives in London from the US, she and Dominique meet cute and Nzinga proceeds to wow Dominique and her crowd with her confidence, style and presence.  Everyone except Amma, that is, who wants Nzinga to “…prove herself worthy of Dominique’s love.” What about Nzinga makes Amma feels this way? Regretfully, after going back to the states with Nzinga, Dominique finds herself locked in a mentally (and occasionally physically) abusive relationship that lasts three years. Were you surprised to learn that same sex couples could experience abusive relationships? Regretfully, this was a wakeup call for me. Unfortunately, according to a June 6, 2018 blog post on the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence website, research shows that LGBTQ members fall victim to domestic violence at equal or even higher rates compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Fortunately, with the help and support of friends, Dominique leaves Nzinga and through therapy moves forward with her life. Later Dominique shares with Amma that she had worked out that she was initially attracted to Nzinga because she wanted to be mothered. Amma disagrees, says that it was just bad luck and that Dominique was “becoming too American”. What do you think Amma meant by that statement? Why do you think Dominique stays in America and 30 years later, considers it home?

Back in the Yazz section of chapter one, were you intrigued by the adoration Yazz and her friends had for Egyptian musician Amr Diab, who became a staple of their squad dance evenings? I was, so I did a little investigating and he is an international star! Below is a link for a recap of a concert that Diab just performed at the end of October 2020 at the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt. The clip is showing footage from the film festival as well as his concert, but the music is Diab.

If you enjoyed that clip, or want listen to some more before making up your mind, you may want to take a look at all of Diab’s musical content available for you to download for free with your MADL library card via Freegal. Freegal is a free music service where you can download up to 5 tracks per week. All music is free and you get to keep it forever - no due dates!

I hope you will check back next week as we read through Chapter 2: Carole through Chapter 2: Latisha of Girl, Woman, Other.  Please don’t forget to comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Wow! Author Bernardine Evaristo continues to amaze me the farther we get in this book, as she widens the circle of women who, each in some way, have a connection to one another. Talk about six degrees of separation! I felt like this section of reading was more focused on mother-daughter or grandmother-mother-daughter relationships; would you agree?

First up was the story of Shirley, earlier mentioned as Amma’s childhood friend but who also turns out to be the “dragon” teacher-mentor of Carole’s known as Mrs. King! How does your image of Mrs. King from Carole’s earlier story last week compare with the Shirley you get to know in this chapter? Shirley says she doesn’t understand why her best friend Amma consistently rails against aspects of society and culture that she doesn’t like, as Shirley feels it’s impossible to change things, “…so what’s the point?” How does that view square with teacher Shirley King’s commitment to give her students a fighting chance? Later in her career Shirley becomes very embittered; what has happened to cause that? Why does the friendship between Shirley and long-time fellow teacher Penelope seem so unlikely? What does student Carole’s success under Shirley’s guidance mean to Shirley? Shirley feels used by Carole not staying in touch or saying thank you; why do you think Carole behaved that way?

Winsome, Shirley’s mother, is introduced next. How would you describe the relationship between Winsome and her daughter? Do you think Shirley appreciates what her mother went through during Shirley’s childhood living in Plymouth, England, as one of the few families of color? Why do you think Winsome made the difficult decision to go back to London with the kids—whether or not husband Clovis followed? In a showstopping plot twist, Winsome starts a year-long affair with Shirley’s husband, Lennox, when her grandchildren are young. Why do you think Winsome does this? How does Winsome justify this affair to herself? Winsome later describes herself as “…a grateful person”. Would you agree? Why or why not?

Penelope, a white woman and Shirley’s fellow teacher, shows up next. We first know of Penelope through Shirley’s view of her; does learning Penelope’s back story change your impression of her in any way? Penelope is raised by a dull engineer father and a racist mother, who bluntly tell her on her 16^th birthday that she was adopted after being abandoned at a church as an infant. How do you think this revelation and how it was handled impacted Penelope’s life? What do you think was author Evaristo’s goal in having Penelope grow into being a feminist chronologically with the women’s movement itself in the 1960s and 70s? Why do you think Penelope has been so unlucky in her marriages? In what ways do you think Penelope’s self-pity has affected her relationship with her children?

We end this section of reading with the intense and absorbing story of Megan/Morgan and the journey to identify their true self as gender-free. Initially Megan describes herself as “…her otherwise liberal mother’s blind spot”. What do you think Megan means by that? In a cultural aside, Megan described her mother as “Geordie born and bred”. If you’re wondering what that means, you can find a great explanation on England’s North East website. What important role does Megan’s great-grandmother GG play in her life? Why do you think Megan spiraled down into drug abuse as she matured? What made her quit cold turkey? Megan begins to investigate the trans world and connects early on with Bibi. Why do you think their relationship worked? What do you think of Bibi’s statement that “…dreaming wasn’t naïve, but essential for survival…the equivalent of hoping on a large scale”? Eventually identifying as non-binary, Megan opts the gender-neutral pronouns of they/theirs, changes their name to Morgan  and moves on to an incredibly successful career as a social media influencer. Why do you think Yazz, Amma’s daughter, is immediately drawn to Morgan when they speak at Yazz’s university? How do you think Morgan handled Yazz’s naivete about being non-binary? Did you enjoy the way the author connects Morgan to Amma by having them at Amma’s National Theatre debut to review the play for their social media site?

Morgan has become one of my favorite characters in this book so far, and I found their journey of self-discovery incredibly compelling. I feel author Bernardine Evaristo’s amazing depiction of Morgan’s story provided me personally with more clarity and understanding about non-binary gender identity than most other educational information or fiction I have read. If you are interested in more information regarding non-binary gender identity, you might find this Gender Wiki website helpful. A clear explanation of the non-binary use of the pronoun they is available on the Merriam Webster website.

I also enjoyed being reminded of the early days of the women’s movement and fight for equal rights through Penelope’s story, and it made me think of several feature films released in the last couple of years on the topic. One that also ties in with the recent loss of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is On the Basis of Sex. Justice Ginsburg was a pioneer and fierce advocate for gender equality, and this film documents her first landmark court case on gender discrimination. Here’s the official trailer:

Just FYI, MADL owns On the Basis of Sex on DVD and Blu-ray for your viewing pleasure. Visit MADL’s online catalog to request a copy.

Next week we’ll be finishing Girl, Woman, Other by reading through Chapter 4: Hattie through the Epilogue.I hope you'll check back and make a comment -- I can't wait to hear what you have to say!

Thanksgiving has come and gone, we’ve come to the end of November and finished Girl, Woman, Other. The last two chapters that focused on individual people concerned Hattie, (aka: Morgan’s great-grandmother GG) and Hattie’s mother Grace. Hattie is an old woman in her chapter, dozing during a family Christmas gathering where she feels her children will be disappointed if she wakes up. Why do you think Hattie feels that way? Skin color plays a big role in Hattie’s family life; how does Hattie view that situation? As Hattie reminisces, we learn that the family farm that has been passed down through Hattie’s maternal line was originally founded on money made from the slave trade. How does Hattie feel about that? How does her American GI husband Slim react? Hattie’s walk down memory lane also informs us that at the age of 14 she had a baby; a baby that her father abruptly removed from the household. Hattie has apparently never told anyone; why do you think that is?

Grace’s story is one of survival, isn’t it? Born out of a wedlock at the end of the 19^th century to a white mother and traveling African sailor father, Grace ends up being raised in a girl’s home when her mother dies young from TB. What are your thoughts about the Grace’s experiences in the home? Grace marries Joseph Rydendale, local heir to the Greenfields farm and very much the community’s most eligible bachelor. What did you think of the relationship? Why do you think Grace had such trouble bonding with her daughter, Hattie? Why do you think Grace misses her mother so deeply?

In the After-party chapter, doesn’t it feel like we are basically voyeurs observing Amma’s wonderful success with her play on its opening night, dipping in and out of characters’ conversations? What are your feelings about the play’s success? For the first time we spend a brief amount of time with Roland, Amma’s friend and Yazz’s carefully selected father. Roland, who is a very successful author and academic, emphatically feels that he is not a spokesman for cultural diversity. Why do others view him this way? What does Roland mean when he comments “white people are only required to represent themselves, not an entire race”?

Carole, the successful banker, sees Mrs. Shirley King at the after-party, and finally thanks her former teacher for the help and guidance she provided to Carole while still in school. How did Shirley King’s reaction make you feel? How does Shirley’s reaction make Carole feel? Shirley King describes her friendship from childhood with playwright Amma as being based on “historic loyalty and comfortable familiarity”, instead of “shared interests and perspectives.” Why do you think Shirley feels that way?

Yazz, Amma’s daughter, runs into a lot of her godparents at this celebratory event. How do you feel about how she plays them off each other to get material things that she wants?

Dominique, visiting from America to attend her former lover and business partner’s debut at the National Theatre, tries to convince Amma that while America has “…more than its fair share of social and political ills”, compared to Britain it’s better. Do you agree with Dominique? Why or why not?

Throughout the after-party, we are introduced often to a different point of view about a character than we had from the individual characters’ chapters. Were any of your opinions about a specific character changed following the After-party chapter?

Finally, the Epilogue focuses on Penelope—the one white character in the book who had her own chapter. After finding her version of happiness in her 70s, Penelope now wishes to know more about her birth parents. A genealogy DNA test uncovers that Penelope is actually Hattie’s first born; the baby that Hattie’s father removed from the family when Hattie was 14. How did Penelope react to this information? How did it make you feel to learn of Penelope’s true identity? How does Penelope and Hattie’s reunion tie into the theme of mothers and daughters throughout the book?

As always, what I like to ask at book club whether online or in person, is: did you enjoy the book? I thoroughly enjoyed Girl, Woman, Other! On a purely literary level I enjoyed the stories of all these different women, but along the way I also learned so much about the female black experience in the United Kingdom. One thing I kept marveling at were the clever ways all these seemingly random characters were connected by author Bernardine Evaristo. Lo and behold, someone else was thinking along those lines as well; back in December 2019 author Evaristo shared an image on her Twitter account of a character map a data journalist had done for the book. That’s exactly what I had been thinking I needed; a chart to keep everyone straight! After I got used to the author’s unique writing style for this book I did enjoy it, and felt in a way that it placed me right in the middle of the characters’ internal conversations. What are your feelings about the writing style? Author Bernardine Evaristo is a really interesting person herself, and you might enjoy this extensive interview with her from February 2020 at the Oxford Union Society, which is the debate society at Oxford University.

When I think about other books or movies that have had such a large number of characters that end up connected in some way, the 2006 movie Crash comes to mind. This intense, sometimes violent Best Picture winner spins interlocking stories of a diverse group of people all connected through an initial car accident in LA. If that sounds interesting to you, here’s the official movie trailer for Crash:

For your viewing pleasure, MADL owns Crash on DVD. Visit MADL’s online catalog to request a copy.

Thanks for joining the MADL hoopla Book Club Blog for Girl, Woman, Other.  Don’t forget to leave a comment to let me know how you enjoyed the book! Mark your calendar for December’s MADL hoopla Book Club Blog when we will be reading the fiction book The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments section.