Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

byJeanette Winterson

Format:

PaperbackEbook

Buy the book from:

AmazonOpens in a new tabBlackwellsOpens in a new tabBookshop.orgOpens in a new tabFoylesOpens in a new tabHiveOpens in a new tabWaterstonesOpens in a new tabWHSmithOpens in a new tab
The shocking, heart-breaking - and often very funny - true story behind Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.

In 1985 Jeanette Winterson's first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, was published. It was Jeanette's version of the story of a terraced house in Accrington, an adopted child, and the thwarted giantess Mrs Winterson. It was a cover story, a painful past written over and repainted. It was a story of survival.

This book is that story's the silent twin. It is full of hurt and humour and a fierce love of life. It is about the pursuit of happiness, about lessons in love, the search for a mother and a journey into madness and out again. It is generous, honest and true.

‘Unforgettable… It’s the best book I have ever read about the cost of growing up’ Daisy Goodwin, Sunday Times

**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**

Unforgettable… It’s the best book I have ever read about the cost of growing up.

Daisy Goodwin, Sunday Times

About Jeanette Winterson

Jeanette Winterson CBE was born in Manchester. She published her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, at twenty-five. Over two decades later she revisited that material in her internationally bestselling memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?. Winterson has written thirteen novels for adults and two previous collections of short stories, as well as children's books, non-fiction and screenplays. She is Professor of New Writing at the University of Manchester. She lives in the Cotswolds in a wood and in Spitalfields, London.
Details
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • ISBN: 9780099556091
  • Length: 240 pages
  • Dimensions: 198mm x 15mm x 129mm
  • Weight: 173g
  • Price: £9.99
All editions