What defines gender? What makes us male or female? Kathleen Winter explores the nature vs nurture debate in her beautifully written novel, Annabel.
It is 1968 and a baby is born in Croyden Harbour, Labrador to first-time parents Treadway and Jacinta Blake. Attending at the home birth, Thomasina Baikie notices something unusual about this little bundle of joy – it is a child born with both male and female genitalia, a hermaphrodite.
Treadway decides the child will be called Wayne and raised as a son. The doctors agree the penis is developed enough to allow this, and an operation is performed in Goose Bay. Only three people and Wayne’s doctors know the truth, that little Wayne is a boy-girl child. To everyone but Jacinta and Thomasina, he is Wayne. Jacinta sees the daughter she could have had when she looks at her child, and this creates a barrier between mother and son. Thomasina has lost her husband and daughter, Annabel, in a boating accident, and so she christens Wayne “Annabel” and calls him this in secret.
Although Wayne believes he is a boy, and is taught the life of a hunter/fisherman as all Labradorian boys are, he is fascinated by geometric shapes, music, and synchronized swimming. He longs to be like Elizaveta Kirilovna and make beautiful patterns in the water. He saves his money and orders a bright orange swimsuit from the Eaton’s catalogue, hiding it from his father, knowing instinctively this is something boys don’t wear. He wants nothing to do with the boys in his class and their rough and tumble play; rather, he falls for sweet Wally Michelin, a budding opera singer, who shares his passion for music and daydreaming.
As he grows, Wayne continues to visit the hospital in Goose Bay, and is prescribed various pills, because although he is raised as a boy, his body is showing signs of the girl-child within. The pills help his body form the masculine lines of a boys, they help his voice deepen and his shoulders to broaden, and although Wayne knows he is different from the other boys in his class, he doesn’t know why. The truth of his birth is kept secret until one fateful trip to the hospital at the age of twelve reveals all, and Wayne begins to explore the other part of himself on a journey of self-discovery to find his true identity.
A truly remarkable and captivating novel, Annabel doesn’t disappoint from page one to the very end.
Till next time, happy reading!
L J
| TBR = 8 | WPL = 17 |
No comments:
Post a Comment