Girl, Woman, Other Literary Elements

Feminist, LGBTQIA+ Contemporary Novel

The novel is set in 21st century Brixton, South London, though it also refers to previous decades in the same region.

A third-person omniscient narrator moves from one character to another. There are twelve main characters in total.

The narrator's tone is wittily cynical but ultimately optimistic throughout the course of the novel. Various moods, ranging from serious to lighthearted, are treated in the various characters' lives.

There is no specific protagonist or antagonist in the novel. All the characters are the protagonists of their own lives. In some instances, a character who protagonizes her own life antagonizes the life of another, but no one character is treated entirely as a villain. Amma could, however, be considered a central figure because most of the characters are linked to her (or her play) in some way.

The major conflict in the novel is the struggles that individual characters face in their circumstances. Frequently, these struggles involve legacies left by parents; cultural, sexual, and racial identities; access to or lack of education; and career ambitions. For each character, the major conflict is to confront the hand dealt them and navigate a life for him/her/themself.

Each vignette has its own climax, but in general, one or two major life events or circumstances are presented to a character, and those major events serve as a climax in the plot.

There is one primary instance of foreshadowing in the novel, and it relates Hattie's deep desire to uncover her Ethiopian roots, as well as the child she had at 14. Evaristo scatters these curiosity-generating details throughout the novel, and creates the expectation that the mystery will be resolved. These details foreshadow the fact that Penelope, who was given up for adoption, will be discovered as the child Hattie had as a teenager.

There are allusions to the segregated American South, European involvement in the slave trade, classical theater, Marxism, populism, and various feminist movements.

Every chapter involves the parallel structure of telling the tales of mothers and daughters, whether that be Amma and Yazz, Carole and Bummi, Shirley and Winsome, or Megan/Morgan, Penelope, Hattie, and Grace.