Annabel
Kathleen Winter
Black Cat Press/Grove Atlantic
Kathleen Winter’s luminous debut novel is a deeply affecting portrait of life in an enchanting seaside town and the trials of growing up unique in a restrictive environment.
In 1968, into the devastating, spare atmosphere of Labrador, Canada, a child is born: a baby who appears to be neither fully boy nor fully girl, but both at once. Only three people are privy to the secret—the baby’s parents, Jacinta and Treadway, and their trusted neighbor and midwife, Thomasina. Though Treadway makes the difficult decision to raise the child as a boy named Wayne, the women continue to quietly nurture the boy’s female side. And as Wayne grows into adulthood within the hypermasculine hunting society of his father, his shadow-self, a girl he thinks of as “Annabel,” is never entirely extinguished.
When Wayne finally escapes the confines of his hometown and settles in St. John’s, the anonymity of the city grants him the freedom to confront his dual identity. His ultimate choice will once again call into question the integrity and allegiance of those he loves most.
Kathleen Winter has crafted a literary gem about the urge to unveil mysterious truth in a culture that shuns contradiction, and the body’s insistence on coming home. A daringly unusual debut full of unforgettable beauty, Annabel introduces a remarkable new voice to American readers.
http://www.groveatlantic.comhttp://www.groveatlantic.com/#page=isbn9780802170828
I haven't read this yet. But I find the cover as mind-bending as the story is described to be gender-bending. When I first saw it on Kirkus Reviews I wasn't sure what or who I was seeing. The head is so feminine, gamine and yet the torso is so not. And, if this was a girl biologically, you would expect there to be something to her breasts. It's like seeing orange labeled with "blue."
And, well, if it were a boy in drag, purely, I think there would be that attitude I usually see with men in drag. A dare? Dare to see me, yes, this is who I am? There is none of that here.
It was a top seller this week.
What do you think? Has anyone read it?
Is it like Eugenides' Middlesex?
Kindle Edition: 498 KB
DEckle Edge Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat;
1 edition (January 4, 2011)
Kindle ed. Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Annabel at Amazon
Powell's also has it f you prefer.
