Creating a patchwork quilt of experiences, struggles, and triumphs, Evaristo weaves together a powerful depiction of life through the stories of twelve unique women. Told through “fusion fiction” as Evaristo describes her prose/poetry style, the reader is pulled directly into the life of each woman individually. The various storylines are capable of standing alone but are often layered with the lives of others. Although Girl, Woman, Other starts in London, the women’s lives span various continents and decades, each one with different personalities, interests, and ambitions to become immersed in.
I consider myself pretty by-the-book when it comes to punctuation and don’t have much patience for “creative” interpretations of periods and quotation marks. You’d think, therefore, that I would be appalled by Evaristo’s “punctuation optional” writing style, but in truth I felt it added more than it detracted. The poetry-esque format gives the words a new dimension of weight and power, and the way she dances between prose and poetry, flitting between the spheres, gives a richness and beauty to the stories being portrayed.
By chance, I happened to read Girl, Woman, Other in its printed version and I am so thankful for that moment of serendipity. While I’m sure the story would be great in audio-form, this book deserves to be read in all of its physical–print glory.
The true beauty of this book, in my opinion, is that I could begin reading it again right now and experience an entirely different story due to the amount of detail, depth, and emotion portrayed through the characters. Even after long days of essays and assignments, I found myself picking up the book before I went to bed and, in my opinion, that is one of the highest compliments a book can get.
Personal rating: 8.5/10
Recommend? Absolutely
Re-read? Yes, but don’t tell my “to be read” list
Time: 1:46