Bonnie Greer: ‘I’m a searcher’

‘I love that she has no illusions, she isn’t a fantasist. She is an observer of human nature, but filtered through the British-Caribbean person which is quite wonderful.’

‘I love her because she was an outlaw,  she refused to be politically correct, she was literally cancelled from 1949 until Alice Walker rediscovered her in the 70’s. She loved the musicality of black rural voices, she had a real empathy and that’s why I love this book.’

‘I got this before it was actually published, I read the whole thing on a tube journey and thought “well, gosh, that’s very good.” She has such an interesting eye. And I’m thinking what a talented writer.’

‘I was struck by visceral how you were, Zawe. You were very close to whatever the protagonist was going through, it was unflinching and I appreciated that. I like to go somewhere I have never been, and never seen through my own eyes. It was like being in another world, but at the same time I could relate to everything.’

‘This book is about transformation, it’s also very experimental. A lot of white men read the book thinking it was going to be about physics, about thermodynamics! But they stayed with the book, with three black women and I guess that’s flattering.’