The last line of this joyful, hopeful, and energetic novel is:
“this is about being
together.”
This final line perfectly sums up the story of book, which was the joint winner of the Man Booker Prize in 2019 by Bernardine Evaristo, the first black woman to receive this award. The novel has 12 chapters, each of which is told in a different but inter-connected voice of a modern black British woman. At times, it’s difficult to keep each voice straight, but the work you put in remembering and learning each woman’s story is worth it. Evaristo forgoes traditional syntax and punctuation, which only makes the experience of reading this novel that much more unique. I loved finding different ways of identifying with each woman’s story, even when they were so different. I highly recommend this novel. — Julie Travers
