day in life

Interviews

A day in the life of a book editor with Simon Prosser

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Features

The best Penguin Podcast episodes for aspiring writers

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Reading lists

9 beach reads set in Italy

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How exam boards are changing to make English Literature more inclusive

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A diverse curriculum will help kids grow emotionally and intellectually

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‘It was the first time I saw myself in literature’: Penguin authors on the book they wish they read in school

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Our favourite mother-daughter relationships in fiction

The first six novels in the Black Britain Writing Back series

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Bernardine Evaristo rediscovers six novels by Black writers for Black Britain: Writing Back series

Writing advice: Tips from those who've learned the hard way

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Writing tips from our bestselling authors

There are many books that depict the permutations of growing older

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The best books that celebrate old age

Where to start reading Bernardine Evaristo's books

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Where to start reading Bernardine Evaristo’s books

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Bernardine Evaristo: ‘Older black women, who writes about that?’

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Getting published

Bernardine Evaristo: ‘It’s really important that all our stories get out there’

Mr Loverman

NOW A MAJOR BBC TELEVISION DRAMA STARRING LENNIE JAMES 
 
RECIPIENT OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD 
 
A moving and funny novel about an exuberant, closeted family man living as himself for the first time in over 60 years, from the Booker-prize winning author of Girl, Woman, Other. 
 
*** 
 
Barrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a double life. 
 
Born and bred in Antigua, he's lived in Hackney since the sixties. A flamboyant, wise-cracking local character with a dapper taste in retro suits and a fondness for quoting Shakespeare, Barrington is a husband, father and grandfather - but he is also secretly lovers with his great childhood friend, Morris. 
 
His deeply religious and disappointed wife, Carmel, thinks he sleeps with other women. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington wants to divorce Carmel and live with Morris, but after a lifetime of fear and deception, will he manage to break away? 
 
Mr Loverman is a ground-breaking exploration of Britain's older Caribbean community, which explodes cultural myths and fallacies and shows the extent of what can happen when people fear the consequences of being true to themselves. 
 
*** 
 
‘Transforms our often-narrow perceptions of gay men in England’ Independent 
 
'Brokeback Mountain with ackee and saltfish and old people' Dawn French 
 
‘Heartbreaking yet witty, this is a story that needed to be told’ Observe

Bernardine Evaristo, MBE, is the award-winning author of eight books of fiction and verse fiction that explore aspects of the African diaspora. 
 
Her novel Girl, Woman, Other made her the first black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019, as well winning the Fiction Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards in 2020, where she also won Author of the Year, and the Indie Book Award. She also became the first woman of colour and black British writer to reach No.1 in the UK paperback fiction chart in 2020. 
 
In 2025 she was awarded the Women's Prize Outstanding Contribution Award. Her other awards and honours include an MBE in 2009 and an OBE in 2020. Her writing spans reviews, essays, drama and radio, and she has edited and guest-edited national publications, including The Sunday Time's Style magazine. 
 
Bernardine is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, London, and President of the Royal Society of Literature. She lives in London with her husband. 
www.bevaristo.com

Barrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a double life. Born and bred in Antigua, he's lived in Hackney since the sixties. A flamboyant, wise-cracking local character with a dapper taste in retro suits and a fondness for quoting Shakespeare, Barrington is a husband, father and grandfather - but he is also secretly homosexual and in a relationship with his great childhood friend, Morris. 
 
Mr Loverman is a ground-breaking exploration of Britain's older Caribbean community, which explodes cultural myths and fallacies and shows the extent of what can happen when people fear the consequences of being true to themselves.

A radically honest and inspirational memoir from the Booker Prize winning author of Girl, Woman, Other

Manifesto

RECIPIENT OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD 
 
'This honest, engaging memoir shares such gems . . . the perfect read for anyone who dreams big' The Times and Sunday Times, Books of the Year 
 
The powerful, urgent memoir and manifesto on never giving up from Booker prize-winning trailblazer, Bernardine Evaristo 
 
In 2019, Bernardine Evaristo became the first black woman to win the Booker Prize since its inception fifty years earlier - a revolutionary landmark for Britain. Her journey was a long one, but she made it, and she made history. 
 
Manifesto is her intimate and fearless account of how she did it. From a childhood steeped in racism from neighbours, priests and even some white members of her own family, to discovering the arts through her local youth theatre; from stuffing her belongings into bin bags, always on the move between temporary homes, to exploring many romantic partners both toxic and loving, male and female, and eventually finding her soulmate; from setting up Britain's first theatre company for Black women in the eighties to growing into the trailblazing writer, theatre-maker, teacher, mentor and activist we see today - Bernardine charts her rebellion against the mainstream and her life-long commitment to community and creativity. And, through the prism of her extraordinary experiences, she offers vital insights into the nature of race, class, feminism, sexuality and ageing in modern Britain. 
 
Bernardine Evaristo's life story is a manifesto for courage, integrity, optimism, resourcefulness and tenacity. It's a manifesto for anyone who has ever stood on the margins, and anyone who wants to make their mark on history. It's a manifesto for being unstoppable. 
 
 
'Raw and emotive . . . a powerful account of how Evaristo got to the top of her game - it's moving, but there's also much humour and joy' Independent 
 
'Bernardine Evaristo is one of those writers who should be read by everyone, everywhere' Elif Shafak 
 
 'Bernardine Evaristo is one of Britain's best writers, an iconic and unique voice, filled with warmth, subtlety and humanity. Exceptional' Nikesh Shukla

This honest, engaging memoir shares such gems . . . the perfect read for anyone who dreams big

The Times & The Sunday Times, Book of the Year

Raw and emotive . . . a powerful account of how Evaristo got to the top of her game - it's moving, but there's also much humour and joy

Manifesto combines the personal with the practical to powerful effect

Bernardine Evaristo is one of those writers who should be read by everyone, everywhere

Elif Shafak, author of the bestselling The Island of Missing Trees

A bold memoir. Prepare to be inspired

A meditation on personal transformation, cultural inequalities, activism, belonging, love and friendships - and above all, the power of creativity

Bernardine Evaristo is one of Britain's best writers, an iconic and unique voice, filled with warmth, subtlety and humanity. Exceptional

Nikesh Shukla, author of Brown Baby and The Good Immigrant

How I wish when I was 18, that someone - if not necessarily my school - had also thrust Manifesto into my hands

Shimmers with unfailing self-belief and a strong vein of humility

This humorous and eye-opening memoir is fascinating . . . and beautifully told

Sunday Telegraph, Five Books That Will Make You See the World Differently

The autobiographical parts of the book serve as vivid lessons about the power of change, growth and self-confidence

The most striking feature of this moving and enjoyable book is her fearless openness. When the publishing world looked closed to her she prised it open with her daring fiction

Bernardine Evaristo is the most daring, imaginative and innovative of writers

Manifesto serves as not only a beautifully written, measured companion piece to the fictionalised lives of Girl, Woman, Other, but as a testament to Evaristo's own trailblazing commitment to creativity, education and activism

Bernardine Evaristo's 2019 Booker win - the first by a Black woman - was a revolutionary moment both for British culture and for her. After three decades as a trailblazing writer, teacher and activist, she moved from the margins to centre stage, taking her place in the spotlight at last. Her journey was a long one, but she made it, and she made history. 
 
MANIFESTO is Bernardine Evaristo's intimate and inspirational, no-holds-barred account of how she did it, refusing to let any barriers stand in her way. She charts her creative rebellion against the mainstream and her life-long commitment to the imaginative exploration of 'untold' stories. And drawing deeply on her own experiences, she offers a vital contribution to current conversations around social issues such as race, class, feminism, sexuality and aging. 
 
This is a unique book about staying true to yourself and to your vision. It's about how to be unstoppable - in your craft, your work, your life. It is Bernardine Evaristo's manifesto for never giving up.

Abridged Edition

Penguin Readers Level 7: Girl, Woman, Other (ELT Graded Reader)

This ELT Graded Reader is made for people learning English as an additional language. The short, simple text is also perfect for anyone looking for an easier read. It is an adapted version of the original story. 
 
This story is a powerful novel about race and the lives and journeys of twelve people. It celebrates the importance of coming together to share, love, and take care of each other. 
 
Our Penguin Readers books include: 
<ul><li>Simple text (CEFR-levelled)</li><li>Pictures to help you understand the story</li><li>Fun exercises to help you learn and practise English</li></ul> 
With the print book, you can get even more help online:<ul><li>Read the book online</li><li>Listen to the book being read out loud</li><li>Get lesson plans for teachers</li><li>Find answers to check your understanding 
 </li></ul> Note: online resources not available with the eBook.

This story is a powerful novel about race and the lives and journeys of twelve people. It celebrates the importance of coming together to share, love, and take care of each other. 
 
Our Penguin Readers books include: 
• Simple text (CEFR-levelled) 
• Pictures to help you understand the story 
• Fun exercises to help you learn and practise English 
 
With the print book, you can get even more help online: 
• Read the book online 
• Listen to the book being read out loud 
• Get lesson plans for teachers 
• Find answers to check your understanding 
 
Note: online resources not available with the eBook.

From the Booker prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other

The Emperor's Babe

FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER 
 
RECIPIENT OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD 
 
'Wildly entertaining, deeply affecting' Ali Smith 
 
Londinium, AD 211. Zuleika is a modern girl living in an ancient world. She's a back-alley firecracker, a scruffy Nubian babe with tangled hair and bare feet - and she's just been married off a fat old Roman. Life as a teenage bride is no joke but Zeeks is a born survivor. She knows this city like the back of her hand: its slave girls and drag queens, its shining villas and rotting slums. She knows how to get by. Until one day she catches the eye of the most powerful man on earth, the Roman Emperor, and her trouble really starts... 
 
Silver-tongued and merry-eyed, this is a story in song and verse, a joyful mash-up of today and yesterday. Kaleidoscoping distant past and vivid present, The Emperor's Babe asks what it means to be a woman and to survive in this thrilling, brutal, breathless world.

Meet Zuleika: sassy girl about town, former child bride, A-list Roman babe, black immigrant in ancient Londinium. She knows this city like the back of her hand - its squalor and bustle, its slum tenements and sumptuous villas. But she doesn't know how it feels to fall in love. 
 
Sold in marriage to a rich, fat Roman, stranded in luxurious neglect with only slaves and sex workers for company, it's not long before Zuleika is up to no good. And one day, when the Roman Emperor himself strolls into town and catches her eye, the trouble really starts... 
 
Irresistibly funny and whip-smart, this is a deeply relatable coming-of-age tale with a surprising historical twist.

Soul Tourists

FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER 
 
RECIPIENT OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD 
 
'Evaristo possesses enough ball-busting originality to create whole novels for each of the historical characters she resurrects . . . [she creates] funky yarns so tantalising you want to devour them' Guardian 
 
Meet Stanley Williams: Single, in his thirties, grieving the death of his Jamaican father and wondering if there is more to life than his nine-to-five banking job in a sky-high glass menagerie. 
 
Enter Jessie O'Donnell: barmaid, former singer-cum-comedienne, and desperate to get into her rusty old Lady Niva and hit the freeway across Europe. 
 
The unlikely pair begin an electrifying odyssey that weaves in and out of history, colliding with the forgotten heroes of Europe's past. Shakespeare's mysterious 'Dark Lady of the Sonnet's, Pushkin and his Ethiopian great-grandfather and the mixed-race Allessandro de' Medici of Florence are all ready to have their voices heard, and Stanley and Jessie do what they can to hang on for the ride . . . 
 
'A bouncy. . . touching novel about the search for love and belonging' The Times

Stanley Williams, angst-ridden banker and boffin, wonders whether there's more to life than his daily nine-to-five grind.  One night he's dragged to a disco at Piccadilly Circus and there he meets Jessie: artiste, motormouth, ducker and diver.  She swoops Stanley out of his soulless life and off on a rollercoaster road trip across Europe, bringing him face to face with a host of forgotten luminaries from the rich mix of black European history and literature.

Blonde Roots

FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER 
 
 RECIPIENT OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD 
 
LONGLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION 2009 
 WINNER OF THE ORANGE YOUTH PANEL AWARD 2009 
 FINALIST FOR THE HURSTON WRIGHT LEGACY AWARD 2010 
 
 'A phenomenal book. It is so ingenious and so novel. Think The Handmaid's Tale meets Noughts and Crosses with a bit of Jonathan Swift and Lewis Carroll thrown in. This should be thought of as a feminist classic.' Women's Prize for Fiction Podcast 
 
 Welcome to a world turned upside down. One minute, Doris, from England, is playing hide-and-seek with her sisters in the fields behind their cottage. The next, someone puts a bag over her head and she ends up in the hold of a slave-ship sailing to the New World . . . 
 
 In this fantastically imaginative inversion of the transatlantic slave trade - in which 'whytes' are enslaved by black people - Bernardine Evaristo has created a thought-provoking satire that is as accessible and readable as it is intelligent and insightful. Blonde Roots brings the shackles and cries of long-ago barbarity uncomfortably close and raises timely questions about the society of today. 
 
'A bold and brilliant game of counterfactual history. Evaristo keep[s] her wit and anger at a spicy simmer throughout' Daily Telegraph 
 
 'So human and real. Re-imagines past and present with refreshing humour and intelligence' Guardian 
 
 'A brilliant satire whose flashes of comedy make the underlying tragedy all the more poignant' Scotland on Sunday

A hugely imaginative tale that invites important debates, challenging fundamental perceptions of race, culture and history

This brilliant novel will fulfil [Evaristo's] purpose of making readers view the transatlantic slave trade with fresh eyes

A phenomenal book. It is so ingenious and so novel. Think The Handmaid's Tale meets Noughts and Crosses with a bit of Jonathan Swift and Lewis Carroll thrown in. This should be thought of as a feminist classic.

Reimagines past and present with refreshing humour and intelligence . . . human and real

[Blonde Roots]  is a powerful gesture of fearless thematic ownership by one of the UK's most unusual and challenging writers

As with a Swiftean satire, Evaristo's novel is powerful not for its fantastical elements but for its ability to bring home the horror of historical events

Imagine if the transatlantic slave trade was reversed. 
Imagine Africans the masters and Europeans their slaves . . . 
 
Now meet young Doris, living in a sleepy English cottage. One day she is kidnapped and put aboard a slave ship bound for the New World. On a strange tropical island, Doris is told she is an ugly, stupid savage. Her only purpose in life is to please her mistress. Then, as personal assistant to Bwana, Chief Kaga Konata Katamba I, she sees the horrors of the sugarcane fields. Slaves are worked to death under the blazing sun. But though she lives in chains, Doris dreams of escape - of returning home to England and those she loves . . .

Girl, Woman, Other

THE SUNDAY TIMES 1# BESTSELLER &amp; BOOKER PRIZE WINNER 
 
RECIPIENT OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD 
 
*One of Goodreads Most Popular Books of the Past Decade* 
 
This is Britain as you've never read it. 
This is Britain as it has never been told. 
 
From Newcastle to Cornwall, from the birth of the twentieth century to the teens of the twenty-first, Girl, Woman, Other follows a cast of twelve characters on their personal journeys through this country and the last hundred years. They're each looking for something - a shared past, an unexpected future, a place to call home, somewhere to fit in, a lover, a missed mother, a lost father, even just a touch of hope . . . 
 
'The most absorbing book I read all year' Roxane Gay 
 
'[Bernardine Evaristo] is one of the very best that we have' Nikesh Shukla 
 
'Beautifully interwoven stories of identity, race, womanhood, and the realities of modern Britain. The characters are so vivid, the writing is beautiful and it brims with humanity' Nicola Sturgeon 
 
'A choral love song to black womanhood in modern Great Britain' Elle 
 
'Bernardine Evaristo can take any story from any time and turn it into something vibrating with life' Ali Smith 
 
'Exceptional. You have to order it right now' Stylist

Give [Evaristo] more prizes! All the prizes! It has the pace of a whistle stop tour and yet it seems no detail of the myriad of lives we encounter is missed.

If you haven't discovered [Evaristo] yet, I urge you to read all and any of her books. Devoured one a day already and ordered more. Hilarious, compassionate, moving and brutally honest.

Beautifully interwoven stories of identity, race, womanhood, and the realities of modern Britain. The characters are so vivid, the writing is beautiful and it brims with humanity.

Weaves through time and space with crackling originality

Exuberant, bursting at the seams in delightful ways... Evaristo continues to expand and enhance our literary canon. If you want to understand modern day Britain, this is the writer to read

An exceptional book that unites poetry, social history, women's voices and beyond. Order it right now

Evaristo's prose hums with life as characters seem to step off the page fully formed. At turns funny and sad, tender and true, this book deserves to win awards

With this rich composition, Evaristo deserves a toast

Masterful... A choral love song to black womanhood in modern Great Britain

'Girl, Woman, Other is about struggle, but it is also about love, joy and imagination.

Threads together the diverse life stories of 12 black British women in ways that deliberately resist categorisation

Such a satisfying read, funny and true, the characters are so real you feel you know them already

A warm, humorous and ambitious novel, and one that is enjoyably playful in style. It is both a product of its time and unlike any book ever written about Britain

My favorite book of 2019 . . . the most absorbing book I read all year. This novel is a master class in storytelling. It is absolutely unforgettable. When I turned the final page, I felt the ache of having to leave the world Evaristo created but I also felt the excitement of getting to read the book all over again. It should have won the Booker alone. It deserves all the awards and then some.

'Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo is the best book in recent years to have embodied the idea that there are as many ways to be joyful as there are to be Black. Polyphonic and nuanced, it celebrates the lives of Black British women rather than commiserating with them, which is a crucial - and rare - distinction.'

'Magnificent' Observer 
 
'Uniquely beautiful' Guardian 
 
'Deeply humane' The New York Times 
 
'Extraordinary' gal-dem 
 
'Wonderful' Telegraph 
 
'Brims with vitality' Financial Times 
 
'Terrific' Metro 
 
'Effervescent, enlightening' BBC 
 
'Crackling originality' Vogue 
 
'Multitudinous' Daily Telegraph 
 
'Funny, sad, tender, true' Red

Grace is a Victorian orphan dreaming of the mysterious African father she will never meet. 
 
Winsome is a young Windrush bride, recently arrived from Barbados. 
 
Amma is the fierce queen of her 1980s squatters' palace. 
 
Morgan, who used to be Megan, is blowing up on social media, the newest activist-influencer on the block. 
 
Twelve very different people, mostly black and female, more than a hundred years of change, and one sweeping, vibrant, glorious portrait of contemporary Britain. Bernardine Evaristo presents a gloriously new kind of history for this old country: ever-dynamic, ever-expanding and utterly irresistible.

Hello Mum

FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER 
 
RECIPIENT OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD 
 
It's a hot summer afternoon. Tension is in the air. A gang of youths on bikes gathers outside a chip shop. A teenage boy is stabbed and left bleeding on the street. 
 
The boy's mother wonders how this could have happened to her son. She is full of questions, but when the answers lie so close to home, are they really what she wants to hear?

It's a hot summer afternoon. Tension is in the air. A gang of youths on bikes gathers outside a chip shop. A teenage boy is stabbed and left bleeding on the street. 
 
The boy's mother wonders how this could have happened to her son. She is full of questions, but when the answers lie so close to home, are they really what she wants to hear?

Bernardine Evaristo

Michelle Asante

Paul Chahidi

Sara Powell

Adjoa Andoh

Jude Akuwudike

Petra Letan

Sharon Duncan-Brewster

June Broughton

Joe Sims

Tassia Messimeris

Damson Idris

Nadine Marshall

Anthony Welsh

Full Cast

Rick Warden

Lexi Strauss

Including original writing for radio, plus full-cast adaptations of The Emperor’s Babe and Hello Mum

Full-cast dramatisations and original plays and stories from the award-winning author. 
 
Bernardine Evaristo won the Booker Prize 2019 with her novel, Girl, Woman, Other and the one-off Women's Prize Outstanding Contribution Award in 2025. The author of ten books, her 2013 novel Mr Loverman was adapted into a BBC 1 drama series in 2024, winning two BAFTAS. She has received over 90 awards and honours and is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University of London. Featured here are some of her most innovative works, as well as an illuminating documentary about her life and career. 
 
The Emperor’s Babe – Set in AD 211, this drama adaptation of Evaristo’s 2001 verse novel, follows Zuleika, of Nubian heritage, who grows up wild and adventurous in Roman London and has a dangerous affair with the Roman emperor, Septimius Severus 
 
Hello Mum – Fourteen-year-old Jerome grows up on a rough housing estate and makes a mistake that has disastrous consequences. Now he needs his mother to understand why - and what the world looks like through his eyes. A powerful tale adapted from Evaristo’s 2010 novella 
 
Madam Bitterfly and the Stockwell Diva - Feisty South Londoner, Charmayne, is determined to make it big in Hollywood – no matter what it takes…A wickedly comical take on the hierarchy of colour, told in verse 
 
Medea – Mapping the Edge – Three writers: Amanda Dalton, Alison Fell and Evaristo, wrote three versions of the Medea myth featuring characters from Greece, Yemen and Yorkshire, which were integrated into a stunning and unique single drama. Originally staged as a promenade theatre production by Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, with WilsonWilson Company. Dalton adapted it for radio 
 
On Top of the World – A woman's feelings of alienation and isolation lead her to the frozen landscape of the beautiful Arctic 
 
London Choral Celestial Jazz – Bernardine Evaristo reads her own experimental verse short story, inspired by Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, and featuring four very different Black women who navigate the high-octane, adrenaline-charged streets of contemporary London 
 
Profile: Bernardine Evaristo –A radio documentary about Bernardine Evaristo and her life 
 
Original Text copyright © Bernardine Evaristo 2001 (The Emperor’s Babe), 2003 (Madam Bitterfly and the Stockwell Diva), 2005 (On Top of the World), 2010 (Hello Mum), 2014 (London Choral Celestial Jazz), 2003 (Medea – Mapping the Edge) text copyright © Amanda Dalton, Alison Fell and Bernardine Evaristo 
 
Content Warning: contains strong language and deals with themes of racism 
 
Written by Bernardine Evaristo 
The Emperor’s Babe 
Zuleika – Michelle Asante 
Felix – Paul Chahidi 
Alba – Alex Tregear 
Valeria – Hannah Wood 
Tranio – Rick Warden 
Severus – Terence Anderson 
 
Hello Mum 
Jerome – Anthony WelshAdrian/Boy – Damson IdrisKimisi – Nadine MarshallDelmar – Malachi Kirby 
Keith – Jude Akuwudike 
Dexter – Alex Lanipekunwith Robert Blythe, Joe Sims 
 
Madam Bitterfly and the Stockwell Diva 
Charmayne – Petra Letang 
Sonia – Sharon Duncan-Brewster 
Hortense – Dona Croll 
Rhona – Stephanie Turner 
Keisha – Clare Perkins 
Principal – Martin Hyder 
 
Medea – Mapping the Edge 
Mildred – June Broughton 
Young Mildred – Tassia Messimeris 
Jamal – Sushil Chudasama 
Gerald – Martin Pirongs 
Nadia – Sara Powell 
Jason – Danny Seward 
Maddy – Lexi Strauss 
Texan – Deka Walmsley 
Narrator – David Fleeshman 
 
On Top of the World 
Read by Adjoa Andoh 
 
London Choral Celestial Jazz 
Read by Bernardine Evaristo 
 
Profile: Bernardine Evaristo 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Bernardine Evaristo: A BBC Radio Collection

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