Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read this in an afternoon at a library with a guy in front nodding off and an over zealous librarian ready to call time about half an hour before the library was supposed to close. Despite these distractions I was totally engrossed in this book. As the former employee of a London church charity and having written a coming-of-age novel with an bustling broody hen mother figure and which features adventures in dating and romance there was a great deal I could relate to in Oranges are Not The Only Fruit. I liked the main character's sense of humour and uncertainty in her role as religious protegé though found the use of oranges as a metaphor for practical love a little overdone but what stuck with me the most was the part where the real mother comes to claim her child, the little girl listening to the exchange with a glass held to the wall. Later on when the first teenage love becomes pregnant and tells the narrator that she no longer feels anything for her or thinks that their relationship was worth thinking about, these are the parts that make up for the slightly cheeky narrative. The emotion comes right through in these moments and it is a memorable book for that reason.



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