Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
by Jeanette Winterson

Months ago, a friend of mine recommended me Jeanette Winterson, and as much as Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit seemed interesting, I was attracted to her memoir Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? With a title like that, I knew I had to give it a read.

I don’t recall having read a memoir before, so I went in without much expectations. In some passages, I wasn’t even sure if I was reading fiction or non-fiction, partly because of the eccentricity of Jeanette’s mother, Mrs Winterson, and partly because the prose is written so beautifully.

The memoir takes us on a journey and exploration of happiness. Much of the book is dedicated to growing up in Accrington, specifically focusing on the author’s relationship with her adoptive mother. Jeanette was a feisty kid from the likes of it, and this has often led her mother to say that the devil led them to the wrong crib. Feeling unwanted is one of the worst things a child can feel when growing up.

Jeanette lets us into her darkest thoughts and does not keep secrets when it comes to her emotions. It’s such vulnerability that makes the memoir so compelling. From the exterior, perhaps to her teachers and family, Jeanette seemed very angry and rebellious. But what child wouldn’t be when you put them in that kind of life?

I find it also important to discuss queer issues especially when they centre so much on one’s destination in life. When it was discovered that Jeanette was seeing a girl, her mother led her into an exorcism. I can only begin to fathom how traumatic that was. Jeanette writes about her past in a somewhat distant and detached way, letting us observe what happened without drowning us in her emotions. This event might have happened decades ago, but the truth is that queer people still suffer from these experiences, and part of our duty is to talk about it and raise awareness. Nobody deserves to go through that, and I think it’s useful that there are people like Jeanette Winterson who discuss and show us these awful experiences.

Towards the second half, we are taken into her adulthood, briefly through her writing career and to where she is now. Overall, it is a story of inspiration on multiple factors. Firstly, because she is self-made, making it out of Accrington as a very successful author. Secondly, because there is paramount honesty about the self and how her trajectory isn’t linear, but it is continuous and the seek for happiness and personal growth does not end with success.

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Link: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

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