Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a novel by Jeanette Winterson published in 1985 by Pandora Press. It is a coming-of-age story about a lesbian who grows up in an English Pentecostal community. Key themes of the book include transition from youth to adulthood, complex family relationships, same-sex relationships, organised religion and the concept of faith.
The book is semi-autobiographical and is based on Winterson's life growing up in Accrington, Lancashire. "I wrote about some of these things in Oranges, and when it was published, my mother sent me a furious note".[2] A parallel non-fictional account of her life at this time is given in her 2011 memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?[3] Although the protagonist of Oranges bears the author's first name, John Mullan has argued that it is neither an autobiography nor a memoir, but a Künstlerroman.[4]
Premise
The main character is a young girl named Jeanette, who is adopted by evangelists from the Elim Pentecostal Church. She believes she is destined to become a missionary. The book depicts religious enthusiasm as an exploration of the power of love. As an adolescent, Jeanette finds herself attracted to another girl, and her mother's group of religious friends subject her and her partner to exorcisms.[5]
Literary allusions in the novel
The novel is divided into eight sections, each of which is named after one of the first eight books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth.)[6] Each chapter often contains references and allusions to their corresponding book in the Bible.[7]
The novel contains references to numerous literary works, historical figures and aspects of popular culture:
Jeanette's mother frequently lauds the good and moral behaviour of the titular character in Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte.
Jeanette's great-uncle is described as a stage-actor, who at least once performed as Hamlet to favourable reviews.
The owner of the local pest-control shop, Mrs. Arkwright, shares the same name with the similarly miserly owner of the local grocery shop in Open All Hours, a popular BBC sitcom that originally ran from 1976 to 1985.
Jeanette's mother is subscribed to the religious magazine The Plain Truth, which was issued monthly by The Worldwide Church of God from 1934 to 1986. In the novel the family receive a weekly subscription.
For her Easter-Egg painting competition entry, Jeanette paints her eggs as characters from Wagner's opera-cycle The Ring of the Nibelung, including the Germanic heroine Brunhilda.
Later in the novel, a confused Jeanette dreams of a library where a number of young women are shown to be translating the epic Old-English poem Beowulf.
Toward the close of the novel, Jeanette is depicted on a train reading George Eliot's Middlemarch.
Although it is sometimes referred to as a "lesbian novel",[8] Winterson has objected to this label, arguing, "I've never understood why straight fiction is supposed to be for everyone, but anything with a gay character or that includes gay experience is only for queers".[5]
The book was released on cassette by BBC Audiobooks in 1990, also read by Coleman.[10]
A two-part dramatisation, adapted by Winterson and starring Lesley Sharp, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2016.[11]
Legacy
The novel has been included on both GCSE and A-Level reading lists for education in England and Wales, including the OCR English Literature A-Level module "Literature Post-1900".[1]
