Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (BBC Audio Collection) (New Windmills)

by Jeanette Winterson

Winner of the Whitbread Prize for best first fiction, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a coming-out novel from Winterson, the acclaimed author of The Passion and Sexing the Cherry. The narrator, Jeanette, cuts her teeth on the knowledge that she is one of God s elect, but as this budding evangelical comes of age, and comes to terms with her preference for her own sex, the peculiar balance of her God-fearing household crumbles."

• ISBN10: 0802135161
• ISBN13: 9780802135162
• Publish Date: 20 August 1997 (first published January 1985)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Avalon Travel Publishing
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 176
• Language: English

Reviews

[nannah]

I realize this is pretty much a classic, and I recognize that it's very well written and everything, but I never, ever want to read it again. In fact, I hated reading this.

Book content warnings:
homophobia
ok, extreme homophobia
racism
minor/adult sex (I'm PRETTY sure)
abuse/ child abuse

I know the importance of autobiographical works by LGBT people, I do! But sometimes, as a wlw myself, reading accounts of so much nastiness happening to people like me is ... beyond depressing. Yeah, I get how meaningful and powerful these accounts are, especial for historical reasons, but I could barely get through this.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I just couldn't handle more homophobia, or maybe I just couldn't handle reading about an abusive household like the one I grew up in, even if the circumstances are/were completely different. I don't know. I appreciate the book and the author's experiences (and how damn strong she was and still is), but I couldn't enjoy the book.