Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?  By  cover art

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

By: Jeanette Winterson
Narrated by: Jeanette Winterson
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.00

Buy for $20.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Editorial review


By Madeline Anthony, Audible Editor

WHY BE HAPPY WHEN YOU COULD BE NORMAL? IS AN ENDURING MEMOIR ON THE LIFELONG SEARCH FOR BELONGING

Allow me to begin this review with a disclaimer: I am a massive fan of the legendary British author who penned this book, the truly iconic Jeanette Winterson. Reading and listening are a huge part of my life, and because of this, I have gotten to know many wickedly talented authors over the years. But like a first love, none of the new ones ever quite measure up.

I remember falling in love with Winterson the way a non-bibliophile might recall falling in love with another human being. The experience was visceral, bodily, and has forever implanted itself in my memory. I was 24 years old, and my Oma, who had raised me, had just died of lymphoma. I was beside myself in a way I had never known, and it was as though reading Winterson’s Written on the Body—a love story in which the main character’s lover suffers from a cancer similar to that which affected my Oma—forced out every emotion I had left. I stayed in bed for days, crying, relentlessly grieving, and, ultimately, finding solace in this profoundly timeless story of love and loss.

In the five years that have passed since that pivotal point, I endeavored to consume as much of Winterson’s work as I could get my hands on, and Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, The Gap of Time, and Sexing the Cherry proved just as riveting as my first foray into her prose. I worked my way through her repertoire the way a person might approach higher education— proudly and with purpose. And as Winterson is such a prolific writer, I was never at a loss for material. What I had first heard about Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal? is that it told a very similar story to Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, albeit without the fictional bits. Having read Oranges, I thought I knew the story already and opted instead for more of her passion-fueled fiction, leaving Why Be Happy as the last addition to my proverbial (and literal) Winterson shelf.

When I finally picked up Why Be Happy, I didn’t put it down until I had finished it a week later. It gave me that urgent feeling I sometimes get while reading, that everything else I do is just a distraction from the ultimate goal of Getting Back to The Book. I was pleasantly surprised to find that aside from the crucial, unchangeable facts of the story—that Winterson grew up in an ultra-religious household in a working-class town outside of Manchester— Oranges and Why Be Happy are distinct and not to be compared. While Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a fictionalized coming-of-age novel, Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal? is a searingly honest portrait of a middle-aged woman reflecting on a hard-won life."

Continue reading Madeline's review >

Publisher's summary

Jeanette Winterson’s bold and revelatory novels have established her as a major figure in world literature. She has written some of the most acclaimed books of the last three decades, including her internationally bestselling first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, the story of a young girl adopted by Pentecostal parents that is considered one of the most important books in contemporary fiction. Jeanette’s adoptive mother loomed over her life until Jeanette finally moved out at sixteen because she was in love with a woman. As Jeanette left behind the strict confines of her youth, her mother asked, “Why be happy when you could be normal?”

This memoir is the chronicle of a life’s work to find happiness. It is a book full of stories: about a girl locked out of her home, sitting on the doorstep all night; about a religious zealot disguised as a mother who has two sets of false teeth and a revolver in the dresser drawer; about growing up in a north England industrial town in the 1960s and 1970s; and about the universe as a cosmic dustbin. It is the story of how a painful past, which Winterson thought she had written over and repainted, rose to haunt her later in life, sending her on a journey into madness and out again, in search of her biological mother. It is also a book about literature, one that shows how fiction and poetry can guide us when we are lost. Witty, acute, fierce, and celebratory, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? is a tough-minded search for belonging - for love, identity, and a home.

©2011 Jeanette Winterson (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"To read Jeanette Winterson is to love her. . . . The fierce, curious, brilliant British writer is winningly candid in Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? . . . [Winterson has] such a joy for life and love and language that she quickly becomes her very own one-woman bandone that, luckily for us, keeps playing on." ( O, the Oprah Magazine)
"Moving, honest . . . Rich in detail and the history of the northern English town of Accrington, Winterson's narrative allows readers to ponder, along with the author, the importance of feeling wanted and loved." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"Raw . . . A highly unusual, scrupulously honest, and endearing memoir." ( Publishers Weekly, Starred Review)

Featured Article: Audible Essentials—The Top 100 LGBTQIA+ Listens of All Time


While LGBTQIA+ creators have been around for millennia, it’s only recently that we’ve been hearing more diverse, more queer-authored, and more queer-performed stories about the entire spectrum of LGBTQIA+ experiences and identities. This list—just like the community it represents—is meant to be fluid. But most importantly, it’s meant to celebrate and reflect on the issues faced by LGBTQIA+ people everywhere.

What listeners say about Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    438
  • 4 Stars
    157
  • 3 Stars
    73
  • 2 Stars
    30
  • 1 Stars
    16
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    456
  • 4 Stars
    114
  • 3 Stars
    45
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    10
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    394
  • 4 Stars
    145
  • 3 Stars
    67
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    12

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Title Says It All

I wanted to read this book from the moment I read a review in the New York Times. The title grabbed me by my inner truths and would not let me go, and I relate because my mother had the same philosophy, if she could even be said to have a "philosophy". It's the overall general sense of being "happy" vs being "normal" that got to me - not the specifics of Winterson's life. My mother, too, was big on being "normal" and also felt that being happy was an offshoot of arrogance - like "who are you to deserve happiness?" I am not attempting to define happiness here, just saying the idea was always presented as an unreachable ideal, only given to a privileged few, with the rest of us required to trudge along, suffering and miserable.

Anyway, the narration took some time getting used to - I initially found Ms. Winterson's voice to be a bit strident, with an accent I couldn't quite place, but I gradually acclimated and found a receptive space where I could listen with more peace. The accent and patterns of speech actually work to help create the ambience of mid-20th century Manchester, England.

I like that Winterson's description of the renaissance-like evolution and development of Manchester - from its dark days as Britain's foremost manufacturing town into a prosperous arcade of high-end consumer pleasures such as restaurants, art galleries, new housing created from vacated mill buildings - parallels her own journey of self-dicovery and reclamation.

The memoir proceeds chronologically, but sometimes it's not quite clear where we are in Winterson's life. Not a problem though, as things eventually do clear up, and the surface randomness of the story does not devolve into confusion for the reader; due to the beauty of the writing, sometimes it does not really matter. WInterson herself admits to not writing in a linear style, preferring a less structured way of selecting her scenes.

Although this is another story about growing up with a mother who is very odd in so many ways, unwilling and unable to show love, perhaps even to feel it, this narrative has its own animus, and I, as a reader, never tire of this subject nor of this genre. Winterson's rise from her very inauspicious and soul-destroying roots into triumph like the Phoenix from the ashes is a story that can be told again and again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

62 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Beam Me Up

Jeanette's use of humor is her way of handling often difficult situations with grace and candor. I am enjoying her very interesting although sometimes painful story of growing up "odd" in a time when it was considered...uncool. Her autobiographical story of a an adopted girl who was deprived of books and ended up going to Oxford, brilliantly shining, the shine tarnishing, and somehow developing even now, a new patina. Love her conversational style of writing and bright wit.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Slow Rollercoaster, chugging up towards the end

I'm not sure what drew me to this book, the other reviews I think.
Ms. Winterson tells us at some point (I loved that she was the narrator BTW) that she is writing in real time. As soon as I heard that, the flow of the book all made sense to me. Up until that point, more than half of the book, I was having trouble staying engaged. This makes prefect sense because Jeanette was having similar trouble staying engaged...... in her life.
Then a major shift happened for her, the memoir became alive just as her life became worth living... fully.
Taking this journey with this author/narrator was an eye opener for me. Jeanette struggled with love and passion and work and deep depression and rejection and finally redemption but not thank goodness, in the Hollywood way.
I felt redeemed by listening to this book. Thank you Ms. Jeanette Winterson for not being normal. Best wishes on your journey to find happiness.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this book

This book takes time to get into, but once I did (after the first couple of hours) I was gripped. This is a powerful 'story', - her real life story. It is a journey of self discovery which she shares with the reader, she also shares poems, literature, and psychology that she has read, and that have brought insights to her experience. I felt as if I was being 'told' and 'taught' at the same time and came away with many reflections and insights about my own past, as well as hers. Most of all the book left me thinking about how we all have conflicting feelings about our history, and everyones journey is about trying to integrate these. What an amazing story of survival - respect to your Ms Winterson.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not to be missed for Winterson fans or adoptees

If you are a fan of literary tour-de-force Jeanette Winterson (like I am), this memoir is not to be missed. Winterson's command of the English language and her literary accomplishments juxtapose sharply against her strong north-of-England, working class accent as she narrates her own story. Adopted by a religious fanatic, her story is a powerful example of personal and psychological self-reliance and triumph over adversity. And as a later middle-aged writer reflecting on her past, she charts a path to sanity and love. As readers we celebrate with her. This witty and wry narrative is superb, and superbly read by Winterson herself. Makes me want to go back and re-read Oranges are not the Only Fruit, the Passion, and Sexing the Cherry.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

BELONGING

“Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal?” is an autobiographical story published in 2012 by and about Jeanette Winterson, a famous, and talented English writer. It is about belonging to something greater than one self.

Unconditional love only exists between pets and humans; not humans and humans. This is not a cosmic exploration of childhood but it is an intimate and insightful look at an adult’s remembrance of childhood.

Parents do make mistakes with their children but Winterson shows how mistakes can be turned into useful life experiences. The scary part of that usefulness is how much luck is involved in the process.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Now read A Gap of Time

Be sure to read A Gap of Time, her adaptation of A Winter's Tale. It's a fantastical modernization of Shakespeare's adoption story, and a good read all on its own.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Powerful...

After listening to Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal in its entirety, I had to purchase the physical book as well. There are so many notes I want to make and passages I want to see and reread. As a woman, as someone who hopes to adopt and aspires to write books, as a human with emotional pain and traumas, as someone who may be a bit mad, this has been one of the most important reads of my life. Jeanette Winterson told her story with searing honesty, reflection, and provocation. I cannot wait to read Oranges.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Important

Winterson's writing is honest, straightforward, and heartfelt. Her performance is engrossing. This is a beautifully contextualized memoir that is about coming to terms with one's self in every way possible and the transformative power of reading and writing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Jeanette Winterson's unforgettable memoir.

Jeanette Winterson’s first novel, probably her most famous novel, called “Oranges are not the Only Fruit” was semi-autiobiographical, about an adopted girl and her search for love and meaning. This is Winterson’s memoir of actual events. She was adopted by very dysfunctional parents, including a mother, (whom she always referred to as Mrs. Winterson) who was a religious zealot, never approved of Jeanette, which got worse when Jeanette came out to her as a lesbian, and who did things as punishment like locking her out of the house overnight, not giving her a key when her parents went away for a week thus forcing her to live out of other people’s houses and a van, and putting her in the coal hole for punishment. The title of the book comes from her conversation with Mrs. Winterson when she came out to her. Mrs. Winterson asked: “why are you like that?” Jeanette answered that she preferred women, and that her girl friend made her happy. Mrs. Winterson responded with: “Why would you want to be happy when you could be normal?” Jeanette left home at 16, managed to get the money together to go to Oxford and did well there, and began her successful career writing books. But her upbringing, the feeling she never was loved or wanted, continued to disturb her. She finally decided to search for her biological mother. She had Suzie Allbright as a lover, (one of Suzie’s first books was “fat as a Feminist Issue”) and she had help in finding her adopted mother by the like of author, Ruth Rendell. This is a very honest, in-your-face account of coming to terms with her life and finding her biological mother. And the process continues to evolve. I loved this book, and as the author she absolutely was the best narrator there could have been for the book. Strongly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful