Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

I was initially worried that the audiobook format wouldn’t suit Bernadine Evaristo’s award winning Girl, Woman, Other, but how wrong I was.

I loved walking along and listening to the fascinating, diverse stories of these complex women whose stories are all loosely tied together throughout the novel.

Evaristo tackles themes of feminism, family and gender, challenging prejudices while continuing to entertain, through the stories of the feminist, socialist theatre director Amma, the non-binary Morgan, the teacher, Shirley and ambitious banker trying to escape her past, Carole.

Girl, Woman, Other shared the Booker Prize with Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, and as much as I love Atwood’s writing, I can see why the decision was controversial. To be honest, I think this was the superior book, as it changed my thinking and challenged my attitudes in ways that The Testaments did not.

I loved reading about the diverse perspectives and experiences of these fascinating women, and their flaws and complexities. The stories spanned corporate, arts and family worlds, while all exploring prejudice that either came from within the women or the society in which they lived.

I had heard that the structure of the book could make it difficult to read, but this was no the case at all in listening to it on audiobook. The narrator was perfect, bringing the voices of these diverse, complicated, flawed and heroic women to life.