Womens Prize For Fiction Winner
How to Be Both
by Ali Smith
Summary
Two narratives, a grieving modern teenager and a Renaissance fresco painter, mirror each other across five centuries in a novel printed in two different orders. Smith plays with form, gender and the way art outlives the eye that made it, trusting readers to find the connections. The result is a playful, moving inquiry into how we see and are seen.
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Historical Context & Significance
Half the print run opened with the painter and half with the teenager, so readers encountered the story differently.