Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit sidesteps that debate by being a light, easy read that still takes in big ideas and profound emotions. Modernism is a tricky nut to crack in as much as sometimes it is difficult to tell whether you dislike something because you don’t understand it or because it’s just… well… shite. People look at you weird when you start smiling on the bus in turns out but not to worry. While Winterson’s strict, religious upbringing is certainly not identical to my own humble Yorkshire beginnings, I could see shades of my childhood in the salt of the earth types that appear throughout Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and made me smile in recognition. The working class tone of the novel also appeals, even if it is set on the wrong side of the Pennines, in Lancashire.

This makes for a more enriching and relatable work however, and Winterson handles a time of tumult, tantrums and tears with gallows humour and maudlin heartbreak. OK, the last one might be a little more specific to Winterson herself and this is reflected in the semi-autobiographical nature of the novel.

Rebellion, sexual awakening and being a lesbian in a household populated by fundamentalist christians.

Jeanette is a normal teen girl who goes through all of the normal, teen girl stuff. Sadly, this book isn’t the Orange is the New Black – The Handmaid’s Tale crossover that the world needs right now, despite the title. While I always enjoy a bit of Jean Rhys, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit is the first book this year that I can say I actively enjoyed. This year has been particularly difficult what with shrugging my way through Virginia Woolf, grimacing during The Good Soldier and frowning the night away with big Bill Shakespeare. Three long years of forced reading and wordy assignments. We are rapidly approaching the end of my English Literature degree. ‘Everyone thinks their own situation most tragic.

Orange isn t the only fruit book