Sexing the Cherry

Jeanette Winterson’s dazzling novels have earned her widespread and unanimous international acclaim, establishing her as a major figure in world literature. Sexing the Cherry is an imaginative tour de force exploring history, imagination, and the nature of time.

In a fantastic world that is and is not seventeenth-century England, a baby is found floating in the Thames. The child is rescued by the Dog Woman, a murderous gentle giant who names her newfound trophy Jordan and takes him out for walks on a leash. When he grows up Jordan, like Gulliver, travels the world, but finds that the strangest wonders are spun out of his own head. The strangest wonder of all is Time. Does it exist? What is its nature? Why does every journey conceal another journey within its lines? What is the difference between seventeenth-century Jordan and twentieth-century Nicholas Jordan, a navel cadet in a warship? And who are the Twelve Dancing Princesses?

With a story full of shimmering epiphanies, Jeanette Winterson again demonstrates the keenness of her craft and the singularity of her vision.