Humanity Hallows Issue 5 Out Now
Pick up your copy on campus or read online
By Jamie Stewart
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit is a coming-of-age novel about a young woman who struggles to conform to the expectations of those around her, as well as God, and herself.
Jeanette is going to be a missionary. That, her mother is sure of. Jeanette’s path was dictated for her, and she was ready to accept a life devoted to God and saving the lost. That is, until she meets Melanie. Melanie changes things. When Jeanette realises that there is an alternative to the life set out for her, she sees no other way. Winterson expertly combines the coming-of-age trope with curiosity, sexuality and theology into a story of lesbian celebration.
Oranges has spent its time in many different sections of bookshops, explains Winterson in the introduction to this book. Cookery, marmalade manuals, and finally the Gay/Lesbian section. “That is fine by me,” she writes, “though why are we so busy with the labels? Oranges is for anybody and everybody.”
With Oranges, she also poses the question, why, when a female writer uses her own life’s story as inspiration for a novel, is it considered a work of memoir? It is difficult, at first, to read Oranges without thinking of the main character as the writer herself. Why else has she used her own name for the main character when it is a work of fiction? “[I]t was about self-invention…I wanted to use myself as a fictional character – an expanded ‘I’.”
Reading Oranges is like peeling one. You dig your nails in, rip at the skin, and tear away it away until the segments are ready to be eaten. There may be a few pips in there that you need to spit out. You might even, like Jeanette, make an igloo with the peel.
Featured image and gallery: Sam Holmes From Mirfield to Manchester, this Yorkshire-born four-piece bring their funk-interwoven indie rock to a sold-out Gorilla for their biggest headline show to date. Fresh off the back of their new single ‘Watch Life Burn’ and signing their first record deal with This Feeling/ LAB Records, there is already a…
Featured image and photography: Aaron Parsons / Press Haiden Henderson isn’t a name known to many in Manchester, but the Californian rockstar certainly made sure to leave a lasting impression. With sensual and sexy songs, Henderson really knows how to heat up a crowd in more ways than one. Unreleased track ‘Freak For You’ sets a…
Feature image: Press The Manchester Film Festival has wrapped its 12th edition, running over 11 days and showcasing a strong line-up of local and international talent from across the independent film industry. Festival director Neil Jeram-Croft reflected on this year’s programme, filled with a mix of features, shorts and documentaries spanning the cities’ cinema hotspots:…
Featured image: Press Toots and the Maytals return to Manchester for their ‘Reggae Got Soul’ 50th anniversary tour. Following their hugely successful 2025 tour, Toots and the Maytals return to Manchester to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their landmark album, Reggae Got Soul. Fronted for decades by Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert – named by Rolling Stone…
Leave a reply