1959 -

Winterson was born in Manchester, England and adopted as a baby by a working-class Lancashire Pentecostal couple who wanted a child to dedicate to God and she had a bizarre upbringing, portrayed in her autobiographical novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.

Her lesbianism estranged her from the church and her family, but her negative account of her childhood is disputed by her family.

Since her mother's death she has developed a better relationship with her father.

She is one of the most widely-read contemporary women novelists in English. Other books include Boating for Beginners, The Passion, Written on the Body, Sexing the Cherry, Art & Lies, and Art Objects.
[Last updated: 5 JUN 2004]

References

Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, 1993-97
Levy, Geoffrey. "Why Does My Jeanette Do this to Us? Why Does She Make People Think We're so Terrible?" Daily Mail [London], 28 November 1994, pp. 32-33
Who's Who, 1997
"The Salon Interview: Jeanette Winterson." Available at: http://www.salonmagazine.com/april97/winterson2970428.html
Lumbert, Perrin, "Jeanette Winterson." [Includes portrait]. Available at: http://www.adlbooks.com/wntrsn.html

Indexes

European
UK/Great Britain
20th Century
21st Century
Literature
Sexuality: Gay Men, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transsexuals
Estrangement from Adoptive or Foster Family
Formal, American/European-Type Adoption
Birth or Infancy
For Companionship, or for Charitable Motives