Oranges Are Not the Only FruitThe New York Times–bestselling author’s Whitbread Prize–winning debut—“Winterson has mastered both comedy and tragedy in this rich little novel” (The Washington Post Book World). When it first appeared, Jeanette Winterson’s extraordinary debut novel received unanimous international praise, including the prestigious Whitbread Prize for best first fiction. Winterson went on to fulfill that promise, producing some of the most dazzling fiction and nonfiction of the past decade, including her celebrated memoir Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal?. Now required reading in contemporary literature, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a funny, poignant exploration of a young girl’s adolescence. Jeanette is a bright and rebellious orphan who is adopted into an evangelical household in the dour, industrial North of England and finds herself embroidering grim religious mottoes and shaking her little tambourine for Jesus. But as this budding missionary comes of age, and comes to terms with her unorthodox sexuality, the peculiar balance of her God-fearing household dissolves. Jeanette’s insistence on listening to truths of her own heart and mind—and on reporting them with wit and passion—makes for an unforgettable chronicle of an eccentric, moving passage into adulthood. “If Flannery O’Connor and Rita Mae Brown had collaborated on the coming-out story of a young British girl in the 1960s, maybe they would have approached the quirky and subtle hilarity of Jeanette Winterson’s autobiographical first novel. . . . Winterson’s voice, with its idiosyncratic wit and sensitivity, is one you’ve never heard before.” —Ms. Magazine |
From inside the book
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Page 3
... door . At election time in a Labour mill town she put a picture of the Conservative candidate in the window . She had never heard of mixed feelings . There were friends and there were enemies . Enemies were : The Devil ( in his many ...
... door . At election time in a Labour mill town she put a picture of the Conservative candidate in the window . She had never heard of mixed feelings . There were friends and there were enemies . Enemies were : The Devil ( in his many ...
Page 5
... Door . ' ' Drink , ' said my mother grimly as we stepped out past their house . ' That's why they buy everything from Maxi Ball's Catalogue Seconds . The Devil himself is a drunk ' ( sometimes my mother invented theology ) . Maxi Ball ...
... Door . ' ' Drink , ' said my mother grimly as we stepped out past their house . ' That's why they buy everything from Maxi Ball's Catalogue Seconds . The Devil himself is a drunk ' ( sometimes my mother invented theology ) . Maxi Ball ...
Page 11
... door neighbours were probably possessed , they had all the signs . Pastor Finch said that the possessed are given to uncontrollable rages , sudden bursts of wild laughter , and are always , always , very cunning . The Devil himself , he ...
... door neighbours were probably possessed , they had all the signs . Pastor Finch said that the possessed are given to uncontrollable rages , sudden bursts of wild laughter , and are always , always , very cunning . The Devil himself , he ...
Page 13
... of all lived there , tied to the mills . There were hundreds of children and scraggy dogs . Next Door used to live down there , right by the glue works , but their cousin or someone had left them a house , next to our house 13 GENESIS.
... of all lived there , tied to the mills . There were hundreds of children and scraggy dogs . Next Door used to live down there , right by the glue works , but their cousin or someone had left them a house , next to our house 13 GENESIS.
Page 21
... door . ' The family life of snails , it's an Abomination , it's like saying we come from monkeys . ' I thought about it .. Mr and Mrs Snail at home on a wet Wednesday night ; Mr Snail dozing quietly , Mrs Snail reading a book about ...
... door . ' The family life of snails , it's an Abomination , it's like saying we come from monkeys . ' I thought about it .. Mr and Mrs Snail at home on a wet Wednesday night ; Mr Snail dozing quietly , Mrs Snail reading a book about ...
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Common terms and phrases
advisor Arkwright asked Auntie Betty Bible black peas Blackpool bloody Brunhilda called church Colwyn Bay cried demon door Doreen Elsie Norris Elsie's father feel felt fruit Fuzzy Felt gone hand happened head heard holy ice-cream inside Jane Eyre Jeanette JEANETTE WINTERSON Jim Reeves Katy knew letter live looked Lord married Melanie Miss Jewsbury missionary Morecambe guest house morning mother Nellie never night night at church nodded once orange parlour Pastor Finch Pastor Spratt play prince pulled raspberry ripple romantic love Rothwell round shook shouted singing Sir Perceval smiled someone sorcerer stared started stay stood Sunday talk tambourine tell There's things thought told took town tried turned walked week What's White Wigan William Blake wine gum Winnet woman
Popular passages
Page 127 - Now I give you fair warning' shouted the Queen, stamping on the ground as she spoke; 'Either you or your head must be off.
Page 54 - Yield not to Temptation, for yielding is sin, Each Victory will help you some other to win. Fight manfully
Page 10 - My mother, out walking that night, dreamed a dream and sustained it in daylight. She would get a child, train it, build it, dedicate it to the Lord: a missionary child, a servant of God, a blessing.
Page 30 - All things fall and are built again And those that build them again are gay.
Page 170 - I would cross seas and suffer sunstroke and give away all I have, but not for a man, because they want to be the destroyer and never the destroyed. That is why they are unfit for romantic love.
Page 48 - they were guided by the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. For
Page 55 - The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt, and with the ulcers and the
Page 93 - be proved. I don't believe them. The only thing for certain is how complicated it all is, like string full of knots. It's all there but hard to find the beginning and impossible to fathom the end. The best you can do is admire the cat's cradle, and maybe knot it up a bit more.
Page 95 - So the past, because it is past, is only malleable where once it was flexible. Once it could change its mind, now it can only undergo change. The lens can be tinted, tilted, smashed. What matters is that order is seen to prevail .... and if we are eighteenth-century gentlemen, drawing down the blinds
Page 32 - Country dancing was thirty-three rickety kids in black plimsolls and green knickers trying to keep up with Miss who always danced with Sir anyway and never looked at anybody else. They got engaged soon after, but it didn't do us any good because they started going in for ballroom competitions, which
References to this book
The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-vegetarian Critical Theory Carol J. Adams No preview available - 2000 |
Autobiographics: A Feminist Theory of Women's Self-representation Leigh Gilmore Limited preview - 1994 |