Girl, Woman, Other is a book by Evaristo Bernardine. It talks about the oppression of women, the inner and for the years of long-silenced thinking of women from different social categories and with different experiences. Bernardine Evaristo is making a universal book that shows things differently. It is a polyphonic novel with heroic women of all ages and social orientations, determined to come out with as much power and speak. Their stories experienced firsthand, are shocking and contain scary truths.
In this book, the so-called Ama takes an interest in the theater, making a play of her own, and gives her own battle against the social environment and her family environment. In vain does her father (originally from Ghana) try to infuse her with socialist ideals, since she knows that even politics is trapped in stereotypes, or her mother, who raised three other children besides her, seeks to understand her wild ambitions. Ama continues to fight, defending her lesbian identity, giving her own daily battle, changing the data at the National Theater of England, and establishing the dynamic of “Wild Women Theater”. Ama’s daughter, Yaz, has the same rebellious power as her parents, that is, her lesbian mother and her gay activist father. Various women gather around Yaz, such as the dynamic Muslim Waris, who experiences racial discrimination after 9/11.
All the heroines of the book are united, although they look completely different. The reason is, their confinement in the British territory, where they are anchored, as they are all children of the first or second generation of immigrants from the former British Empire in Africa and the West Indies. Their voices, however, resonate beyond any rule, breaking any prejudices and, above all, overturning clichés about female identity or literature.
Bernardine Evaristo is a writer and a creative writing teacher. She was the first black woman to found a troupe in England, and she is also the first black woman to win a Booker.