Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1985)

Een meisje komt in conflict met haar streng-christelijke omgeving als ze ontdekt dat ze lesbisch is ( )

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“The dramatic exaggeration may well be a coping mechanism.”

Check out my review of this modern classic coming-of-age novel over at John C Adams Reviews.

https://www.johncadamsreviews.com/single-post/john-c-adams-reviews-oranges-are-n...

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Audible audiobook read by the author

Winterson’s semi-autobiographical debut novel has a protagonist who is also named Jeanette. She’s the adopted child of a fervent believer in an evangelical church, and is being raised to become an evangelical preacher. But Jeaneatte is attracted to girls, and this is viewed by her mother, her pastor and followers of her church as a sign that she is possessed of demons and cannot possibly be trusted to “speak the truth.” Her struggles to balance her faith, her love of God and her budding sexuality form the basis of the story.

Winterson’s novel is a glimpse at one teenager’s path out of childhood and into adulthood. Oh, the angst of teen years! The confusion and questions that adults don’t seem to want to answer (heck, they don’t want you to even ask), the emotional roller coaster of attraction vs guilt. The first time one realizes that other people – people who seem like perfectly nice people – live differently that one’s own family.

First published in 1985, I can see why it became so popular. But I’m long past this stage of life and I’ve read many books treating coming-of-age, including those featuring LGBTQ characters. I thought it was fine for its genre, but not particularly memorable to me.

The author narrates the audio version herself, and does a fine job of it. ( )

In a word, Jeannette Winterson's prose is effervescent. I couldn't stop reading. It seems odd to read such a lively, even humorous account of a grim childhood, but she pulls it off. The author uses her own name for the protagonist yet insists it's not a memoir but a novel. But the book refuses to sit primly in the genre of novel, interspersing Bible allusions, fairy tales, and medieval legends that carry the story forward.
This book is a testimony to a child's resilience raised by a woman whose religious devotion has gone beyond fanaticism to neurosis. The woman's husband is a cipher; the central figures are the woman and the girl and an assortment of eccentric "aunts" who attend their church. The underground stream that feeds the child's resilience is literature, in her case an eclectic mix of Deuteronomy, Revelation, fairy tale, and Jane Eyre. Books were a crucial element in her salvation. She doesn't say this outright, but it's clearly so. No doubt, this book will be someone else's or that of many others. ( )