Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? By Jeanette Winterson – 3 Stars

[Hannah]

I read one of Winterson’s novels last year and didn’t particularly enjoy it, so I decided to give her memoir a try. I enjoyed this book much more although reading about her painful past, mental health issues and her search for her biological mother was difficult at times. It was beautifully written whilst being unsentimental, but I felt I didn’t always connect with the author, as she seemed to tell about the emotions she had had rather than show them. This might have been her wish, to try to keep a bit of herself private even though she was writing her memoir, and it would be completely understandable given how she had been hurt in the past. But it did mean that I did not feel fully engrossed in this book.