Ginger and Me: The debut novel from the winner of the Primadonna Prize

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A review of five studies also showed that taking at least 1 gram of ginger per day could help significantly reduce post-operative nausea and vomiting ( 28).

We witness time and again how Wendy, weighed down by barely-expressed or understood life experiences – she has neither the comprehensions nor the articulative tools to make a full counting of what has happened to her in her blighted life and how she feels about it all – stumbles into people and places that look promising, only to have them not go where she, or Saanvi who doesn’t probe further than Wendy’s almost-knowing dissembling of the truth (Wendy knows enough to give her social worker what she wants to hear), expect them to be. Supplements that contain both turmeric and ginger are available as well, making it easy to get your fix of each in a single daily dose. There is a poignant scene in the book where Ginger says she used to dream about having a nice job in an office and maybe shopping at M&S and going on holiday. To others these are not big dreams, but to someone like Ginger they are unobtainable. I want people who have always had these choices to understand that others don’t, but that it is not to say their ambitions are any less valid. That broken and fallible humanity never really gets better, and while Ginger and Me seems to indicate that the world of a lonely bus driver from Scotland might take on more promising or lustrous hues, and that her mistakes may not hobble her for the duration, the novel never pretends anything other than life can be bleak and dark and our efforts to allay or heal from that may come to nothing.

It’s Ginger’s thread to the story that intensifies the emotion, making the book one that won’t be easily forgotten. Where Ginger and Me very cleverly plays its hand is in taking us far beyond that idea to a place where the expected second chances arc never really eventuates in quite the anticipated way. The book started by Wendy being in jail; and the thing is, it was not her fault. 19 year old Wendy, who works as a bus driver was in a depressive state after her mother died. Then she met Ginger on her bus, a 15 year old who has charms of her own. Two people who unconventionally became friends and somewhat ended up relying up on each other. A story of female friendships set in Glascow a small town and about aspiring authors and escaping from the person that you had become. The two ingredients work well together in salad dressings, stir-fries, and sauces to add a surge of flavor and health benefits to your favorite recipes. In fact, a review of 8 studies found that taking 1,000 mg of curcumin was as effective at reducing joint pain as certain pain medications in those with arthritis ( 14).

Turmeric, also known as Curcuma longa, belongs to the same family of plants and is often used as a spice in Indian cooking. Literally the only thing making me not DNF this was wanting to know why and how Wendy ended up in prison and even the way that turned out was just absurd. Wow, this book is both insightful and heartbreaking at the same time! The story is told through the eyes of 19 year old Wendy from jail but, initially, she doesnt elaborate on what has happened, other than to say it is not her fault. She then goes on to describes the series of events that lead up to this point. All nineteen-year-old Wendy wants is to drive the 255 bus around Uddingston with her regulars on board, remember to buy milk when it runs out and just to be okay. After her mum died, there’s nobody to remind her to eat and what to do each day.

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But it was the View Park women I really took to and admired. They were resilient and optimistic, even though some were facing real financial hardship. They had a great sense of humour and a real willingness to help each other.” Studies show that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is especially effective at decreasing pain caused by arthritis ( 12, 13).

The eponymous "Me" is the narrator Wendy and we follow her trying to navigate through life after the death of her mother.Take some bread Mum, they like that.’ The woman handed her mum some chunks of bread from a small plastic bag then placed the bag on the ground beside them. You’ll need clothes for court this morning. Is there someone we can call to bring you in some stuff?’ Lanarkshire law woman Elissa Soave turned her talent from legal texts to literature and hadn’t even finished her first novel when it landed a major award. I got changed in the toilet next to my cell while the policewoman stood outside. I wasn’t too pleased with the skirt and sweatshirt combo she’d brought me but I wasn’t in any position to argue, and at least they more or less fitted my long skinny frame. I washed my face in cold water, and risked a look at my morning-after self, surprised that it still looked like me. My forehead deep and broad, dominating over narrow eyes, still dull mahogany and revealing nothing. My pale skin remained so, though there was faint bruising on my right cheek, which must have happened the day before. My nose was long and straight, my dad’s nose, but my smile was terrible, like I’d spotted someone across the room that I had to pretend to be pleased to see. She adds: “I want readers to empathise with and root for these characters. Many might not have met people like Wendy and Ginger before and they will have an idea of what they think they might be like, which may not be great. I really hope they will be able to see these women are born with no privilege and no advantages in life, but are doing the best they can.