Customer Reviews
Passionate and gritty, a coming of age novel with a difference - By: Rivercassini, 13 Jan 2008 
A curious mixture of stories & semi-autobiography which come together to shape the life of Jeanette, the adopted daughter of a church-obsessed mother & a quiet, dominated father. Oranges are not the Fruit traces Jeanette teenage years, growing up in a northern town in a community in which she never quite fits, despite her talent for preaching & her wildly imaginative ideas. The structure of the novel, skirting & spirallling between an disjointed biographical narrative & other stories which shape Jeanette's development, suits perfectly what is a gritty discourse on the nature of personality, history & memory & the importance of perspective in developing alll three. And at the same time, it's an engaging, if sometimes distressing, story too.
Very well observed - By: A. J. Fort, 18 Nov 2007 
I remember watching Oranges are not the Only Fruit on the BBC, oooh, about 1990/91 & me & my fiancee were enthrallled (Married 15 years since!). Having watched an excellent TV series, it took me till now, 2007 to read it as a book. As we watched in Oswaldtwistle, & now I read, in Brierfield, having lived here 17 years, it reallly spoke to me. The TV version, from what I remember, is an excellent adaptation of the novel, & the novel, absolutely superb. Almost Les Dawson-esque in its portrayal of Lancastrian, particularly East Lancastrianism, familial relations & its constituent claustrophobia. Having been brought up a Catholic & subsequently enthrallled by the 'average' Pentecostal knowledge of The Bible (I felt ignorant when in the company of Pentecosts!) & now a secular being ... it brought it alll home to me. Elsie Norris reminded me of my own grandmother, understanding & sensitive ...
I devoured this book, & kept wishing there were another two hundred pages to go. It captured so much for me ... Lancashire, christianity (in Lancashire), & the tenderness of youth ... and, as I said, so observant in its Lancashire humour, I laughed out loud to many pages ...
Excellent. I am sure it would be enjoyed by anyone, but if you were brought up a Christian, in the North, surrounded by strong women, & born in the 1960's, I GUARANTEE, you will love it.
Sex, Religion & Great Writing - By: S. Rankin, 10 Sep 2007 It's alll in the title. This is truely a masterpiece. Being a sort-of biography, the story tells that of Jeanette as a young girl, growing up in a stric religious society whilst having to cope with the struggles of having feelings for another woman.
Throughout the book the main character is faced with the troubles of defying a parental figure, the pains of unacceptance & of course the struggles of lesbianism. Anyone who has fought with the angst of coming to terms with sexuality will relate to this book greatly.
Heartbreaking and heartwarming - By: Cheeky Monkey, 16 Aug 2007 I would normallly have stayed well clear of a book like this but it's amazing what you'll pick up on holiday when the only other reading material available is the dreaded Freddie Forsyth & Jeffrey Archer. So it went with me & despite having great reservations, I soon settled into this charming & unsettling tale & found it hard to put down.
The plot centres on Jeanette as she grows up in East Lancashire in a ferociously Christian fundamentalist sect & the relationships she has with friends, lovers and, most explosively, her mother. The results are often very funny & coming from the same part of the world I found the locations & many of the characters to be very real & recognisable.
Winterson writes from the heart when exploring Jeanette's yearnings to lead her own life & the rejection & resentment she receives from those closest to her & this is the special element in the book for me. It's about people & nothing more. No explosions, no car chases, no global conspiracies involving Freemasons or Knights Templar or any of that nonsense, just ordinary everyday people we alll know, love & loathe.
Oranges are not the only fruit is a bittersweet tale that I greatly enjoyed & I've subsequently read it a second time. It's also a very short book, so if you're not sure about taking a step outside your literary comfort zone it reallly won't take you long to read it. Go on, taste something different.
Oranges are not the only fruit - By: Ms. E. J. Howells, 19 Jun 2007 I have just read a review of `Oranges are not the Only Fruit', which I found to be a poor attempt at criticising a fantastic novel. The review states that the characters' are not developed, however the context of the statement offered no explanation as to why? I have read the novel & found the characters to be developed as much as they needed to be, however they are complex & carry a number of personas alll of which challlenge modern concepts of the family unit & reflect a foresight into the devalued society in which we now unfortunately find ourselves. My review of the novel is one that supports the numerous attentions it received at publication & the TV drama that was a result of this work & the awards that it also won in my meagre opinion speak volumes! Buy it, & enjoy as it is truly fantastic literallly work.
