Sexing the Cherry

167 pp. "Set in 17th century London, Sexing the Cherry is about the journeys of a mother, known as The Dog Woman, and her protégé, Jordan.[2] They journey in a space-time flux: across the seas to find exotic fruits such as bananas and pineapples; and across time, with glimpses of "the present" and references to Charles I of England and Oliver Cromwell. The mother’s physical appearance is somewhat "grotesque". She is a giant, wrapped in a skirt big enough to serve as a ship’s sail and strong enough to fling an elephant. She is also hideous, with smallpox scars in which fleas live, a flat nose and foul teeth. Her son, however, is proud of her, as no other mother can hold a good dozen oranges in her mouth all at once. Ultimately, their journey is a journey in search of The Self.[citation needed] Sexing the Cherry features elements of magical realism and can be said to contribute to the promotion of the "Other" in the literary world.[clarification needed] Sexing the Cherry is a postmodernist work and features many examples of inter-sexuality. It also incorporates the fairy tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses." A novel of magical fantasy by the author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, which won the Whitbread First Novel Award in 1985 and was made into a film, and The Passion, which won the 1987 John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize.