From the secret gay life of a British-Caribbean man to that controversial shared Booker win, the author has blazed a trail across the literary landscape. Here are seven of her top titles
Even by Evaristo’s experimental standards, this book is a highly ambitious mash-up of forms and stories. It takes a mismatched couple, strait-laced Stanley and ebullient Jessie, on a road trip across Europe where they meet the ghosts of black historical figures, from Alexander Pushkin to Mary Seacole. We learn a lot along the way, but the real engine of the story is Stanley and Jessie’s combative relationship. Told in a blend of prose, poetry, scripts, memos, legal documents, budget spreadsheets … and road signs, Soul Tourists ultimately wobbles under the weight of both its own good intentions and its skittish variety, but it has charm and energy to burn.
Sample line “Will you shut the fuck up, Mr Whingealot! This is supposed to be a freewheeling adventure, not an expedition planned with military precision.”
While we await Evaristo’s follow-up to Girl, Woman, Other, this slim memoir fills a gap. It’s a spirited tour through her life, from childhood (she gets her fighting spirit from her father) through her relationships, activism and literary success. The theme is to keep going – with work, with love, with life – and Evaristo is tougher on herself than she is on others, but also understanding and forgiving. She observes that “storytelling [is] my most powerful means of communication”, and although it’s full of interesting details and humour, Manifesto’s piecemeal structure means it lacks the power of her fiction.
