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Sexing the Cherry cover art

Sexing the Cherry

By: Jeanette Winterson
Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
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Publisher's Summary

Set in 17th-century London, Sexing the Cherry is about the journeys taken by the boisterous Dog-Woman and her son, Jordan: journeys across seas to find bananas and pineapples; journeys through time that weave snatches of the present with tales of Charles the First and Oliver Cromwell; journeys in search of the self.

As mothers go, the Dog-Woman takes some beating. She's a giant wrapped in a skirt that could 'serve as a sail for some wartorn ship' and strong enough to fling an elephant into the air. She's hideous, too, with smallpox scars on her face where fleas live, a flat nose and black, broken teeth. To top it all, she's a 'fantasist, a liar and a murderer'.

But her son, Jordan, is proud of her - who else has a mother who can hold a dozen oranges in her mouth at once?

Like the best of Winterson's writing, such as Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and The Passion, the audiobook is engaging, ambitious and contrary. Alongside a hearty historical realism, young girls swoon in locked towers that don't exist, islands slip sideways in time and mysterious diseases wipe out towns and cities.

Even though Sexing the Cherry is short, it is impossible to listen to it in a straight line - fairy tales and dreams run in and out of the story, and it's hard to resist chasing them.

©1989 Jeanette Winterson (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic Reviews

"A book of innocence and bawdiness, fury and joy...needs to be read and re-read." (The Times)
"Read it and marvel. Jeanette Winterson's voice is startlingly original, and her imaginative feats are utterly dazzling." (Cosmopolitan)
"Simple prose shows the subtlest of minds behind it, swift, confident and dazzling." (Financial Times)
"Winterson juggles past and present, fantasy and reality, to produce an original and entertaining novel which invites us to re-examine our own perceptions of time." (Sunday Times)
"Her stories and characters levitate off the page into dancing life...A bold, bizarre and timely book." (Independent)

What listeners say about Sexing the Cherry

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Not a great aural read.

Nothing like previous Jeanette Winterson's brilliant writing. I really missed the point and the message here.

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Absolute perfection

There was nothing I didn’t like about this book. A beautifully written post modern text with a delightful mix of realism and fantasy. Amazing narrator who especially captures the essence of the Dog Woman perfectly.

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