GWO QUOTES:

(identity) NARRATOR - “Penelope wanted to embrace…”

“Penelope wanted to embrace self-acceptance / getting rid of the full-length mirrors in her home was a good start.” - p. 299

Shirley bucket listing motherhood - “Once they became…”

“once they become houseowners, they will make babies”

Penelope - “Giles filled” but…

“Giles filled the hole with his love” but the love she had for her children was “overwhelming / endless”

(marriage) WINSOME on Clovis - “If it was twenty years later […] …”

“If it was twenty years later […] I'd have left him there and then / if it had been thirty years later, I'd have lived with him before marrying him, you see it occurred to me that I didn't really know this man who wanted me to follow him around like a mindless idiot." - p. 231

(unity) ENDING - “This is…”

“This is about being / together.”

Democracy and unity

Democracy and unity, warning against infighting and tribalism

readiness for battle

penelope = a call to arms

symbol of life transformation

morgan = change or transformation of character

rams horns

hattie = humility along with strength

moon and star

grace = love and faithfulness and harmony

totality of the universe

epilogue = vast expanse of creation

talons of the eagle

Amma = strength, bravery and power

(Amma) - developed a reputation…

“developed a reputation for heckling shows that offended their political sensibilities …they believed in protest that was public, disruptive”

(friendship) AMMA thoughts about Dom - “Amma realized she’d found…”

“Amma realized she’d found a kindred spirit in Dom who would kick arse with her”

DOM AND AMMA - “collided…”

“Collided in a hug”

(distance and friendship) AMMA towards Dom at the afterparty - “Dissolves…”

“Dissolves as if it was never a barrier in the first place”

AMMA AND DOM UNITED - “Neither was…”

“Neither was prepared to betray their politics to find jobs”

(Amma) - a renegade…

“a renegade lobbing hand grenades at the establishment that excluded her”

Roland - what kind of person is he?

“Gay narcissist” as the father of her child? Yazz thinks this was so her motherhood was a “counter-cultural experiment”

AMMA’s attitude towards Nzinga - “Amma wanted Nzinga…”

“Amma wanted Nzinga to prove herself worthy of Dominique’s love”

Amma’s style

“Own sod-you style which has evolved”

Amma and Dom are…

“soulmates without the sex”

beauty and cleanliness

Yazz = desirable feminine qualities

Yazz - role she takes on for her mother

“emotional caretaker” / “mumsy”

Yazz - “coming of age…”

“Coming of age as one of the Swipe-Like-Chat-Invite-Fuck Generation”

Yazz - “the entire…”

“the entire human race is in it together”

(friendship) YAZZ towards Courtney about music - “Everyone’s…”

“Everyone’s at it, right? […] so why are you targeting us in particular?”

Yazz - is yazz her mother?

“Her mother she is not”

(privilege) YAZZ - “Privilege is about…”

“Privilege is about context and circumstance.” - p. 68

Yazz - “She realized that knowing someone…”

she realized that knowing someone comes from money isn’t the same as witnessing the extent of it in close proximity

YAZZ on Nenet - “lazy…”

“Lazy, spoilt, immoral princess”

Yazz - “sleepless nights…”

“sleepless nights worrying she’ll be alone for the whole of her life if she can’t get a proper boyfriend at nineteen what hope is there for when she’s older?”

Amma on Yazz - “the miracle…”

“the miracle she never thought she wanted” / “really does complete her” / “broodiness” (triggered by grief)

(circumstance) YAZZ towards Warris - “You’ve…”

“You’ve really suffered” / “I haven’t suffered […] I’m not a victim, don’t ever treat me like a victim, my mother didn’t raise me to be a victim”

teeth and tongue

Dom = friendship and interdependence

Dominique describing Nzinga

“Goddess”, “Evil eye charm” and the “ivory-handled knife”

Dom and Nzinga - “Nzinga was…”

“Powerful, unconquerable, her presence and energy dominated the cafe”

Dom - “She decided that…”

“She decided that Nzinga was a fairy angel sent to help her become a better version of herself.”

Nzinga and love - “why did Nzinga…”

“Why did Nzinga think being in love with her meant she had to give up her independence and submit completely?”

Why was Dom drawn to Nzinga?

“she’d been drawn to Nzinga because she was subconsciously looking to be mothered then mothering turned into smothering”

Amma noticing Nzinga - “Amma noted…”

“Amma noted how the force of her presence had the effect of diminishing everyone else’s”

What does Nzinga rename Dom as?

“Sojourner’s Truth” as a “Feminist Baptism”

War horn

Carole = a symbol of vigilance and wariness

Carole - Carole amended herself…”

“Carole amended herself to become not quite them, just a little more like them.”

Carole and the significance of the escalator

“headed for the escalators and the soaring windows that let in a holy glow of morning light” - Carole’s social climbing

Carole - “Carole knows what…”

“Carole knows what drives people to such despair, knows what it’s like to appear normal but to feel herself swaying just one leap away from …eternal peace”

Carole and reading

“if it isn’t related to work, it isn’t worth reading”

Carole’s appearance

“showing off her pretty (thank-god- not too thick) lips coated in a discreet shade of pink, baring he perfect teeth as he adjusts to the collision between reality and expectation”

Carole thinking she perpetuated the rape on herself

“when bad things happen 

to bad little girls 

who 

ask 

for 

It.”

Carole suffering in silence

“Never told a soul”

Bummi mistaking Carole’s trauma for…

“her sulky period at 13”

Bummi encouraging Carole - “you must go back…”

“you must go back and fight the battles that are your British birthright,

Carole, as a true Nigerian”

Carole’s morning mantra - “I am…”

“I am highly presentable, likeable, clubbable, relatable, promotable and successful”

Carole - “She loves that he…”

“she loved that he was prepared to be subservient to her ambition she knew she’d go further faster with him at her side”

Crocodile

Bummi = adaptability

Bummi’s degree - “first class…”

“her first class degree from a third world country would mean nothing in her new country”

Bummi beating her daughter - “If you address me as mother…”

“if you address me as Mother ever again I will beat you until you are dripping wet with blood and then I will hang you upside down over the balcony with the washing to dry I be your mama”

Bummi’s first transaction

“she was now a businesswoman

 this was her first transaction”

Bummi’s relationship with Omfe

“she imagined them lying together as man and wife and instead of it feeling bad, it felt right”

LaTisha = energy and strength

LaTisha = “creating utter havoc…”

“creating utter havoc

which is what she felt inside after Daddy left”

How do others see LaTisha?

“she’s Chief Fucking Bitch on the prowl 

or Major General Mum 

as her kids call her”

LaTisha - “she left school…”

“she left school a head-banging argumentative gobshite with no qualifications who wouldn’t take no orders from no one”

LaTisha’s children

“had three kids, Jason, Jantelle and Jordan, all before her

twenty-first birthday”

LaTisha - “she realized her youngest…”

“She realized her youngest son needed her father in his life.”

seed of the wawa tree

Shirley = happiness, toughness and perseverance

(friendship) SHIRLEY - “Her friendship with Amma is based on…”

“Her friendship with Amma is based on a historic loyalty and comfortable familiarity rather than shared interests and perspectives.”

(friendship) SHIRLEY ABOUT AMMA - “Amma came out…”

“Amma came out as lesbian […] which was initially quite disgusting.”

(friendship) SHIRLEY’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS AMMA - “Shirley had to…”

“Shirley had to put up with her badge-wearing friend or lose the friendship, she can’t not have Amma in her life.” // “Felt protective of her”

(friendship) AMMA TOWARDS SHIRLEY (AFTERPARTY) - “They’ve hardly…”

“They’ve hardly spoke all evening”

(Friendship and politics) AMMA reflecting on Shirley - “because friendship…”

“Because friendship was unconditional wasn’t it?”

Shirley - Role as a teacher

“my job as a teacher is to help those who are disadvantaged”

Winsome on Shirley - “she enjoys…”

“She enjoys having something to complain about”

Shirley and teaching - “Carole was the talented…”

“in the end, Carole was the talented, fallen child who reignited in Shirley the reason why she went into teaching in the first place  the power of education to transform lives”

Shirley - “the pressure was now…”

“the pressure was now on to be a great teacher and an ambassador for every black person in the world.”

good bed

winsome = a good marriage