(G)rumblings and Ramblings

Title: Girl, Woman, Other Author: Bernadine Evaristo Girl Woman Other: A Long Awaited Intersectional Melody* This is a beautiful work of intersectional literature. At the outset, inter-sectionalism was a term first defined by Kimberlie Krenshaw. Briefly put, it believed that feminine experiences were not limited to a monolithic experience, such as, the life of a caucasian woman living in an upper-middle-class neighbourhood being a definitive indicator of feminist struggle that over shadows the experiences of women in different strata of society and from various backgrounds. The book pivots around the narratives of 12 women: black women and women of mixed heritage.  It vibrates with the energies of all the women who have suffered and have risen above their suffering(s). .Overall it is representative of the the experiences of women in a myriad of sexualities and forms that come together in London. The novel reverberates with a  cadence of restlessness owing to a de...

Title: Milkman Author: Anna Burns Milkman: Never Dare to Hope, Only Hope to Live Do not let the diminutive size of this novel mislead you because each page pulsates with vigour and intensity. Milkman pivots on the premise of a shady paratrooper/double agent's advances on the narrator who is pragmatically identified as "middle sister" (because she is the middle female sibling in her family).This novel is a caricatured reflection of society in times of duress where some social codes are tightened, others are loosened and almost everyone functions with the motto of "Dont-Ask-Wont-Tell-And-If-I-Tell-It-Will-Be-Exaggerated-Drivel". It exhibits the suspension of rational thinking, liberty and progressiveness as people seek sanctuary within the confines of prejudice and persecution.  Pretty bleak stuff. Remarkably, the author manages to maintain a wry tone in even some of the darkest moments. One such moment is when the boy who assaulted the narrator i...

Titles: Wolfhall, Bring Up the Bodies, The Mirror and The Light Author: Hilary Mantel                                             The Wolfhall Trilogy: As Girths Thicken and Sins Multiply* Outset: A version of this review was published by Think Publication : a book lovers collective. I left all stylistic freedom with the editor and her team and the review was published in a lovely verse-form reminiscent of Bernadine Evaristo's style in her novel Girl, Woman, Other. Interested readers may view it here This is a fine trilogy. In all three books Mantel describes events with an impeccable turn of phrase littered with a piquant wit that is, in the best -and the worst-of occasions, deliciously tongue-in-cheek. What held my interest throughout each book - in the respective year when it was published - was that the author managed to avoid excessive backgr...