num_pages: 171
description: An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found hereJeanette, the protagonist of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and the author's namesake, has issues--"unnatural" ones: her adopted mam thinks she's the Chosen one from God; she's beginning to fancy girls; and an orange demon keeps popping into her psyche. Already Jeanette Winterson's semi-autobiographical first novel is not your typical coming-of-age tale. Brought up in a working-class Pentecostal family, up North, Jeanette follows the path her Mam has set for her. This involves Bible quizzes, a stint as a tambourine-playing Sally Army officer and a future as a missionary in Africa, or some other "heathen state". When Jeanette starts going to school and confides in her mother about her feelings for another girl, she's swept up in a feverish frenzy for her tainted soul. Confused, angry and alone, Jeanette strikes out on her own path, that involves a funeral parlour and an ice-cream van. Mixed in with the so-called reality of Jeanette's existence growing up are unconventional fairy tales that transcend the everyday world, subverting the traditional preconceptions of the damsel in distress.
language: English
title: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
titlecomplete: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
genres: Fiction, Religion, Queer, LGBT, Lesbian, Classics, Feminism, Contemporary, Novels, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 76077
places: United Kingdom
awards: awardedAt: 473414400000
name: Whitbread Award
category: First Novel
publisher: Vintage