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    Annabel: A Novel
    Annabel: A Novel
    Annabel: A Novel
    Ebook406 pages8 hours

    Annabel: A Novel

    By Kathleen Winter

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    An “absorbing . . . beautifully written” debut about the trials of growing up unique in a restrictive environment (The New York Times Book Review).
     
    In 1968, in a remote part of Canada, a child is born—a baby who appears to be neither fully boy nor girl, but both at once. Only three people share the secret: the baby’s parents and a trusted neighbor. Together, the adults make the difficult choice of deciding the gender for themselves, and raise the child as a boy named Wayne.
     
    But as Wayne grows up, his shadow-self, a girl he thinks of as “Annabel,” is never entirely extinguished, and indeed is secretly nurtured by the women in his life. As Wayne approaches adulthood, and its emotional and physical demands, the woman inside him begins to cry out. The changes that follow are momentous not just for him, but for the three adults who have guarded his secret.
     
    Shortlisted for the Orange Prize in Fiction, this “enchanting” literary gem explores the courage to unveil one’s true self in a culture that shuns contradiction (The New Yorker).
     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJan 4, 2011
    ISBN9780802195920
    Annabel: A Novel

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    Reviews for Annabel

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Nominated for the three top Canadian literary prizes, this debut novel is beautifully written. There were passages and descriptions that I had to keep rereading, they just blew me away. I had some problems with the character development (the mother just fades away...), but most of the narrative rang true. The novel left me wanting more...
    • 5/5
      Wow! This is the best book I've read in a while. The characters are deeply drawn, from the quietness and intelligence of Treadway, who is tormented by the knowledge of his child's condition, to Jacinta, dealing with suppressed longing for her former life and a spiraling depression, to Thomasina, the wise and perceptive world traveler, and finally to Wayne, struggling with all sides of his identity. Intertwined with all of them is a deep love. Kathleen Winters' writing is heartbreakingly beautiful, her descriptions so realistic you can almost see, hear, and smell beautiful Labrador.
    • 4/5
      When a baby is born, the first question anyone asks is “Boy or girl?” It is accepted that gender is the most important thing about the child, before questions like “Healthy?””All limbs and digits present?” or “Brain inside skull properly?” No, the shape of the genitals is the most important thing to society.In 1968, in a barely populated area of Labrador, a baby is born to Jacinta and Treadway Blake. Born in the bathtub with three neighbor women in attendance, only one person, Thomasina, notices that the child is not quite the same as most babies. This child has both penis and vagina. With the exception of the parents and Thomasina, no one in the area knows the child’s secret. Treadway names the baby Wayne, declares it will be raised as a boy, and not long after, the vagina is sewn shut. Treadway, a man who spends the better part of the year running trap lines in the wild forests of Labrador and lives a basic, homesteading life, goes out of his way to teach Wayne to be a man of the same sort: tying knots, trapping, reading sign, skinning and preserving pelts, snowmobiling. He fears any sign of femininity in Wayne; the facts that the child’s best- only- same age friend is a girl and that s/he prefers reading and drawing to rebuilding engines provokes Treadway to doing something that severs the friendship between Wayne and the friend. What Treadway doesn’t know is that for several years, Thomasina, as Wayne’s school teacher, nurtured the interests that weren’t “male” and provided a safe person for Wayne to talk to- and at one point, saves Wayne’s life. Treadway is a decent man. He is not mean or nasty or even a misogynist. He simply knows that life will be easier for Wayne if there is no question as to gender. And life is easier for men than for women. Still, I had a very hard time empathizing with Treadway. Despite his love for Wayne, he cannot see gender as anything other than a strict binary. Jacinta is a dim character, not fully realized. Thomasina is the liveliest of the adults. Almost too good to be true, she is open to most everything in a way that the other residents aren’t. The location itself is a character; it is brought up frequently and shapes the people and their lives. It’s almost like another book is inserted into Annabel’s tale; there is the story of Wayne/Annabel, and there is the story of the land, and, to a degree, Treadway’s relationship with it. Sometimes the stories intersect; most often they do not. The story of the land is achingly beautiful, but I found myself wondering at times why it was in that book. This is Wayne/Annabel’s coming of age story, but it’s also a late coming of age for Treadwell, Jacinta, and Thomasina. Wayne/Annabel is not a girl in a boy’s body, as some seem to think, but both male/female in both body and soul, and this is still a hard situation to live in today; think how hard it would have been in the 1970s, especially in a rural area. The writing itself is beautiful, especially in the descriptive passages. But the characters could have used more work, and the book could have lost some of its size and gained focus. When considered as a first novel, though,, it’s a stupendous achievement, and I can’t wait to see what Winter does next.
    • 4/5
      Very sensitive story about a child born to a trapper and school teacher wife in Croydon Harbour, Labrador. The time period is 1968 and the child is raised as a boy. However, he never really fits in and things change dramatically at puberty when a visit to the Goose Bay hospital is required.Some really good characters fill the story including the Treadway and Jacinta Blake, his teacher Thomasina and friend Wally Michelin.Well written with very believable characters.
    • 4/5
      Actual Rating: 4.5Wow. Simply wow.I have no words to describe how much I adored Annabel. Honestly, I don't even consider myself worthy of reviewing such a masterpiece, but I feel that I should share the beauty of this novel with other readers, which is why I will try my best to do justice to this glorious piece of literature.I was actually searching the dictionary for words that I could use to describe Annabel when I came across the word "dainty", which means 'delicately beautiful' and that is precisely what Annabelis.In 1968, in Croydon Harbour, Labrador, Canada, Jacinta Blake gives birth to an unusual child who is neither male nor female but both in one body. The child is born with the reproductive organs of both males and females. Doctors come to the conclusion that the baby can be raised as a boy and the truth remains concealed with the boy's parents, Jacinta and Treadway Blake and a trusted neighbour, Thomasina Montague.Annabel is the story of Wayne's journey from the time of his birth to his infancy, adolescence and youth. But above all that, Annabel is about seeing and appreciating beauty in all the various forms that it presents itself in. It is about how society perceives anything and everything that is strange and unusual.Jacinta and Treadway were cherubic. I loved reading about the progress and ups and downs of their marriage. As parents, both of them want the best for their child and as humans, they want others to accept their child for who he is even though their discomfort and confusion about him is evident in the early phase of Wayne's life. Treadway tries to mould Wayne into a young man whom he can be proud of, at the same, Jacinta has this deep urge of guarding the part of Wayne that screams to be a girl. Jacinta and Treadway share a wonderful relationship with each other and with their child. When author Kathleen Winter describes Jacinta and Treadway, she doesn't just elaborate the two of them, but you get a glimpse into the live of any inhabitant of Labrador, a glimpse into society in general.I absolutely admire Jacinta and Treadway Blake's neighbour and the woman who first realised the strange notion that came with Wayne's birth, Thomasina Montague. I am in complete awe of Thomasina. She was a caretaker, mentor, teacher and in a very uncharacteristic manner, mother to Wayne. After losing her own husband and daughter, Graham Montague and Annabel Montague, she is inclined to selflessly devote herself to Wayne. She decides to secretly reincarnate a part of her lost daughter in Wayne by naming him Annabel. They (Thomasina and Wayne) shared an enchanting relationship. Thomasina was brave and resolute. She was everything you wish every individual on this planet could be or could strive to be.Another character that I really admire is Wally Michelin, Wayne's childhood best friend who, in a secret and sublet way, makes Wayne reach out to parts of himself he didn't even know existed. She was everything Wayne wished he could be. They shared a lovely relationship and I loved how their story ended.I have read in many reviews that the reader wants to hug the character they read about. I always found it rather funny. Until I read about Wayne. I now know exactly what someone means when they say that they want to hug a book character. Reading about Wayne and getting to know him made me want to pull him close and hug him tightly. I loved Wayne. As a child, he seemed so mature for his age and curious too. I loved his curiosity. I felt for him. At times, I was silently weeping for Wayne. From his obsession with a Russian swimmer's suit to his discovery of make-up products, Wayne comes a long, long way and as a reader, I found myself accompanying him on his journey. As he grows up, he becomes his own individual and it was absolutely enthralling to read about him stepping into the world, trying to figure things out, meeting new people, seeing how people react to him. Wow. I cannot even put into words how much I loved Wayne and how much I cared about him throughout the book.Annabel is all about growing up, learning, seeing, observing, contemplating, becoming and above anything else, loving...Annabel is an exquisitely crafted novel. It has so much to tell the reader. I found myself contemplating over how we see the world with such a narrow mind and there really is so much out there. Whether man or woman or both at once, we are all beautiful in our own way and the least and best that we can do for someone is accept them for who and what they are and let them be. I had never thought I'd love Annabel so much. Author Kathleen Winter has written an exceptional and remarkable novel that has made me open my eyes and heart to all the hermaphrodites out there who, in the end of the day, are just like you and me- human beings.I am in complete awe of Annabel and I am so elated that I read it. An unforgettable book, Annabel will always remain very close to my heart.
    • 4/5
      Exquisite. Ms. Winter's writing is enough to take your breath away. The setting is simply spectacular. The story is deeply complex without being in the least showy. Highly recommended to fans of the very best lyrical fiction has to offer.
    • 4/5
      Annabel was published by House of Anansi in 2010 and became a national bestseller. The book won the Thomas Head Raddall Award, and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the Governor General's Literary Award and the Orange Prize.
    • 5/5
      Simply an amazing piece of work. It is hard to imagine that this could be a first novel, but it is. Ms. Winter has an amazing gift for language and incredible insights into the human condition. Each character from the crusty Treadway to the kind softhearted Wayne was shown in multiple dimensions that denied the reader the chance to accept stereotypes or to make lasting judgments on anyone in the story.
    • 5/5
      What a journey this book has taken me on!
      Layers of story, layers of emotion, layers of identity.

      I highly recommend Annabel to anyone interested in gender studies, or really to anyone who enjoys deep looks into a unique character.

      I will look for other work by this author.
    • 5/5
      I almost stopped reading this about three times. It is not an easy read - emotionally, not in terms of complexity. I am so glad I stuck through it. I felt so bad for Wayne right from the beginning, especially when the baby was described as not yet having any reason to mistrust anybody. I just knew that this would change in such a jarring way. I enjoyed reading through the discussion questions after the epilogue. I still can't answer many of the questions and will devote some time now to reading what others thought.

      This is the first Canada Reads 2014 book that I have read (Cockroach is next), but the competition will have to be fierce to have a chance. I hope to have all of the books read by the time the competition starts.
    • 4/5
      Powerful, sad, amazing, human - damn fine writing.
    • 4/5
      What a good story, although quite sad at times. Also educational as I did not know a lot about hermaphrodites. This was my first read by this author, and it is a story that will stay with me for a long time. I truly enjoyed this novel!
    • 5/5
      What an amazing book! I was struck by the respectful way the characters were drawn so that even when someone made a decision that, from the readers perspective, was clearly not a good one, it remained understandable and right in its own way. So much love...
    • 3/5
      Not at all what I expected. I did not love it, but it is still a good novel. Almost YA in its writing style, but the content is of course more adult. Interesting writing style -- mostly traditionally structured sentences, which is unusual for books of this caliber, which usually have fragments. The writing does shift as you read, and the sentences become more complex and lengthy. For all its description and fullness, I like that the "disturbing" scene is mostly dialogue and thought, which makes it sufferable. It's Labrador, but not fishing and ports -- hunting and small town, instead. It asks questions about gender and identity, but in a whisper, not a megaphone. It's unusual, and yet it's not. I thought it would be about the mother, but it's about the father. It's about contradictions.
    • 4/5
      I finished Annabel this morning and while I liked it very much indeed......it seemed to wrap up rather quickly for me. Things were unfinished that bothered me but more at home with the parents than with Wayne/Annabel. Treadway's change was rather remarkable but I knew he was a softy all along, just a rather gruff one. This book just pulls one along and keeps you for the long haul with just a couple of hiccups. I think I would give it a solid 4 stars.
    • 4/5
      In 1968, a baby was born to Jacinta and Treadway Blake, in a small Labrador trapping village. The birth was attended by a few village women, all close friends. One woman, Thomasina, noticed something unusual right away: the baby had both male and female genitalia. She was the only one outside the family who knew, and supported Jacinta as she struggled to accept what this would mean to them, and to the baby. Treadway decided the baby would be raised as a boy, and while Jacinta felt otherwise, she would not go against her husband. From that moment on the baby was known as Wayne, although Thomasina often called him "Annabel" in private.Jacinta wished she could raise Wayne as both son and daughter, and only vaguely understood the challenges this could pose for Wayne as he grew up. Treadway desperately wanted a traditional, masculine son, and despaired at Wayne's more feminine interests. As a boy, Wayne was ignorant of the medical details, and knew only that he has to take special vitamins. He felt vaguely different from the other boys he knew, and his closest friend was a girl. While Wayne's medical treatment was costly, the more devastating impact was emotional. Jacinta and Treadway are unable to share their feelings with each other, and gradually this takes a toll. Wayne found it increasingly difficult to relate to either of them, and life only became more difficult as he matured and struggled to find his true self.Kathleen Winter drew me into this story gradually, and skillfully. It wasn't a page-turner, but I was surprised to find myself emotionally caught up in this book. I despaired at Jacinta and Treadway's broken relationship, and each response to the family tension. My heart wrenched over the conflict between Treadway and Wayne, especially when Treadway's fears led him to destroy something very dear to Wayne. I also felt very sad for Wayne, who had a secret no one could understand, and coped with so much emotional trauma. As he approached adulthood, Wayne began to understand and accept himself, and I closed the book knowing his life would never be easy, but there were glimmers of hope for his future.
    • 5/5
      The story of Wayne Blake, born a hermaphrodite in late 1960s Labrador, to parents Jacinta and Treadway. The confusion and shame that ensues after the birth does not temper their love for the child, but it is Treadway--giving his timorous wife no say in the matter--who declares that Wayne will be raised as a boy. Hovering over Wayne's early life is Jacinta's friend Thomasina, who recognizes and acknowledges Wayne's femaleness the moment he emerges from the womb, and secretly bestows upon him the name Annabel, in memory of her own drowned daughter. Winter writes supple, nuanced prose laced with poetic touches enlivened by descriptions of a bleak but enchanted Labrador landscape. The narrative follows a moody and mystical path, resonating with spiritual awareness when Thomasina's dead husband and daughter are invoked, and when Wayne's father Treadway navigates the natural world in his shrewd, plodding manner. But the story belongs to Wayne, normal in every way save a conflicted identity that never lets him rest. A beautiful and memorable novel.
    • 4/5
      Wayne had his suspicions that he wasn't quite like the other boys. He suspected that he was different. What he would later find out was the secret that those around him kept from him and just how the word different would come to define his whole existence. In a culture that celebrates the rigidity of roles, where men are men, and women are women, where those lines are defined and not meant to be blurred, Wayne struggles to find himself within the shades of greys that those around him have turned a blind eye towards.Annabel was a haunting book about one person's search to find definitions that didn't exist and the questions of gender roles and how we perceive those stereotypes made for a captivating read. There were moments where my heart broke for Wayne because all he wanted was to understand who he was and yet that very knowledge was never within his reach. There were moments where I celebrated with Wayne as he stepped out in courage to search for the answers that eluded him since birth. In the end, both Wayne and I will come to understand that being different may not be the norm, but it is no less beautiful.
    • 5/5
      The aspect of this book that makes it most beautiful to me is the subtlety of the characters and the prose. Situations that I haven't the faintest idea what it would be like to be in are painted with great empathy, precision and detail but made to feel familiar, never made to sound far away or overly exotic. It's incredible the way that Kathleen Winter always sounds so natural, the prose feels alive like the characters or the setting. It's very rare for writing to feel this heartfelt and yet simple for four hundred and sixty pages. The main character is brilliantly real, and I am certain that many people will find Wayne to be one of the select cast of characters that remain embedded in your subconscious for years after you finish the book. I got this book out of the school library because my friends were all on a school trip and I didn't have anything to read. Little over a week later, I am infinitely grateful for me happening to pick this up.
    • 4/5
      Annabel is an insightful psychological story about differences, differences between people, between environments, between the sexes, between those with vision and those without. I'd recommend it to anyone. I would have given it a 5 star rating if Kathleen Winter hadn't kind of derailed the novel with what I think was a physical impossibility. Aside from a temporary detour from her story about the ability to live with ambiguity, I found the story very realistic, a good portrait of humanity and yearning.
    • 3/5
      This is a thoughtful and often lyrical investigation into what it means to grow up different from other children. It’s 1968 in Labrador, and Jacinta, at home and surrounded by her female friends, gives birth to a baby who has both male and female characteristics. But only the baby’s parents and a close friend, Thomasina, know it, so it’s straightforward enough for Treadway, the baby’s father, to decide that he’ll be raised as a boy. Wayne grows into a solitary child, close to his mother, but generally comfortable enough with his father, and all is quiet enough until Wayne reaches puberty.I enjoyed this novel which is, in many ways, as sparse as its Labrador setting. At the end I felt that, if you were prepared to suspend disbelief (and I usually am, as a reader, happy to take a work very much on its own terms) it works well as a study of loneliness: I’m not sure that it really said much about gender ambiguity, except that it makes it difficult to find friends, something we could probably have guessed. Perhaps it’s too delicate, and a few more rough edges in the writing might have made it more immediate, made you care more deeply about the characters. Your heart should be in your mouth at Wayne’s plight, but instead you just drift through, pausing only momentarily to wonder at this or that. When I finished the book I found I was left with a sense of wistfulness and an overall feeling that my emotions had had too easy a ride for the subject matter.
    • 4/5
      My expectations going into Annabel were sky-high. I was not disappointed, but I was somewhat surprised by my response. Pre-reading, I was most interested in the story of Annabel as hermaphrodite, the story of her life as she struggled to belong amidst a culture unforgiving of contradiction. But it was really the superb portrayal of Newfoundland and of life within its remote, hard shores that appealed to me most. Kathleen Winter’s Newfoundlander characters were so impressive: Treadway’s hard softness and simple practicality; Jacinta’s contented acceptance but secret longing; and Thomasina’s compassionate fearlessness. The isolation, loneliness, and the contradictions of setting and characters, all of these perfectly mirror Annabel’s hermaphroditism. All of my favourite passages, the ones I underlined in my book to come back to, were about Newfoundland – the place, the life, the harshness of the isolation against the peaceful contentedness of simple life:“The movements of the duck were the white hunter’s calligraphy.” (12)“Women of Croydon Harbour knew what was expected of them at all times, and they did it, and the men were expected to do things too, and they did these, and there was no time left.” (36) “then the brutal grandeur of the real Labrador took over.” (178) – how great an expression is “brutal grandeur”?Highly recommended. Required reading for lovers of Canadian literature.
    • 4/5
      In 1968, a baby was born to Jacinta and Treadway Blake. This takes place in a remote town in Labrador. The baby is born a hermaphrodite. Only the parents and one trusted neighbour are aware of the situation. The father wishes to raise him as a boy - Wayne Blake. His mother wishes to secretly embrace his female side - Annabel. As time goes on - Wayne realizes slowly and subtley that somehow he does not feel comfortable in his body.At times I felt that the story could have proceeded at a faster pace - but that slow pace is part of the magic and feeling of Labrador, I suspect. One gets a real feel for Labrador in days gone by - and at times the prose is nearly lyrical. Though a slow moving book in places - the story does move along through Wayne's school days, high school days -and further.The story is also a study of what makes us female or what makes us male - and what we have in common with both sexes. The ending is most satisfying - at least for me - though no defiinite answers are found.A very readable book, another wonderful look into Canadian living-and a most interesting topic for a book to delve into. I highly reccomend this wonderful read!
    • 4/5
      Annabel - I thought this was superb. Again, it wasn't the first Orange longlister to leap out of the list and entice me, but after picking up and putting down a copy on several different bookshop trips (in part captivated by the astounding cover photo and a serendipitous link to something I'd read on Jezebel about androgynous models), I decided to give it a go. The story is of a child born in 1970s Labrador, his childhood and adolescence as a boy and young man (Wayne) living on the edge of the wilderness, and his move to the big city and attempt to live as his true self - both Wayne and Annabel. This is really a book about human relationships - Treadway and Jacinta (Wayne's parents) have an unusually good relationship that turns over time; Thomasina (Jacinta's friend/neighbour) projects her longing for her dead husband and daughter; Wayne's relationship with Wally - and the awful echo that both of their dreams are damaged/delayed by shards of glass wielded by judgemental bullies. I was struck at the end of the book by the depth of characters and the focus on understanding who, how and why they are as they are - and the range of characterisation which accepts multiple identities and/or ambiguity. For example, Treadway is a taciturn hunter with deep knowledge of the land, but also astoundingly well read, a sensitive husband and proves himself able to move well beyond his normal range (both geographically and emotionally) when he travels to St John to see Wayne and send him on the next stage of his life. And this complexity applies equally to minor characters - such as Wayne's headmistress who is a stickler for the rule-book during his school years but reveals herself to be sensitive and caring when they later meet in St Johns. It's not the kind of book that takes you on a journey through a 'big' plot and wraps everything up - but it is a book that makes you think about people and about decency, identity and love. It'll stay with me.
    • 5/5
      Once in a while, a book appears which stays with you long after reading....."Annabel" is that kind of book. Set in the wilds of Labrador, the novel opens with a birth in the home of Jacinta and Treadway. The newborn has both male and female genitalia, something never seen before by those present. A hasty decision is made to bring the newborn up as a boy, thus closing off the female part of the child, both physically and mentally. They name him Wayne. Except that female side will not be quietend, despite the efforts of Treadway to suppress it. Jacinta and her friend Thomasina, who was also present at the birth, secretly acknowledge the girl inside of Wayne. Thomasina lost her husband and daughter Annabel in a drowning accident, and she privately calls Wayne by her daughter's name. Wayne is a sensitive and artistic child whose best friend Wally is a girl, much to his father's dismay. On reaching puberty, Wayne has an horrific experience, the true details of which are not revealed until later in the book. Given hormone treatment, Wayne tries to settle in to his life, but an increasingly absent father and a depressed mother merely add to Wayne's fragile psychological state. Leaving home, he makes his way to St John's where his mother was raised and where he makes a momentous decision which changes Wayne's life forever.I found the first third of this novel quite difficult to read and, it wasn't until finishing it, I realised how thoughtfully this story has been written. That first part is told in a matter of fact style, reflecting the no nonsense attitude of the Labrodorians. If something goes wrong, sort it out, move on and forget it ever happened. The middle section dealing with Wayne's puberty, is more thoughtful and probing. The final part is beautifully crafted and Kathleen Winter tell's Wayne's story with grace and empathy. Her characters are wonderfully drawn in all their complexities and I found myself crying at their struggles. Small, intimate scenes are told with such longing and I found myself crying when a young intern is kind to Wayne after medical treatment. "I see you. I see there was a baby born, and her name is Annabel, and no one knows her."This was always going to be a sensitive subject, but in Ms Winter's hands it is beautifully crafted and will be on my list of Top Ten reads for 2011.This book was made available to me by the publisher for an honest review
    • 3/5
      The first 100 pages of Annabel started off well, but started to drag and become hard to get through. This is a book where you can count the scenery as another character, and you come away knowing more about it than some of the people. The book didn't get going, in my opinion, until Wayne was older and was able to express his opinions, fears, and thoughts. Along the way you want to reach in and help him become whoever he is supposed to be, regardless of whether it's Wayne or Annabel. The story telling, when it started rolling along, was great, and when Winter started telling her story, you didn't want to put it down. The only questions that arose with me was the scientific accuracy involved. The main fear involving his first trip to the hospital with Thomasina, and for those of you who have read it, you know what I am talking about, -for the rest, I won't give it away- set off an alarm with me. I'm not an expert here at all, but it seemed scientifically impossible, and after doing some google research (granted, not a real doctor or anything) I seemed correct in my assumptions. I was surprised when nothing came up but praise for Kathleen Winter and her accurate portrayal of intersexed people, so maybe I am wrong in my beliefs, but it left a bad taste in my mouth, and seemed to be for shock value, rather than accuracy to a true condition. That and an almost abrupt ending... it seemed the beginning should have been shorter and the ending longer, almost as if, when the characters left Labradour, they no longer interested the writer... were the two negatives for me, but the main chunk of the book was a great read, and I do recommend it to anyone considering reading this book. It's being compared a lot to Middlesex (strangely enough, without much thought into it, I bought The Fates Will Find Their Way and Annabel on the same day, two books that are both being compared to Jeffrey Eugenides at the same time) but with the exception of both main characters being intersexed and struggling to find their true gender, there is really nothing else alike. Both are entirely different reads, and both worth taking the time to get through... although maybe Middlesex a bit more.
    • 5/5
      Beautifuly written book about a hermaphrodite in Labrador. Author was able to convey all the questions and feelings of a person completely lost and wondering what was going on.
    • 5/5
      Annabel by Kathleen Winter is a wonderful book. Because it is about a child born with attributes of both sexes, it might be compared to Middlesex by Jeffry Eugenides (as it is in one of the blurbs from the reviews), but I've read that and while I didn't dislike it didn't have the sense of specialness for me that Annabel has. Annabel is both more poetic and more realistic. The poetry is in the description of the chill starkness of Labrador, Canada as well as in the description of the people who find their home there. The realism comes with the subtlety of the description of how Wayne's (Annabel/Wayne is raised as a boy) parents react to his differences, and the decisions that they make about it, how that affects their emotions and the relationships between them, and how Wayne reacts to things that for a long time he is not told about. There is also another strong player in the story, the neighbor midwife, Thomasina, who is the only other person who knows about him. She is gone for long periods, and then returns for awhile, but always keeps a connection, and is a person who acknowledges the hidden parts of him. Another is Wally Micheln, his best friend, a girl who goes through her own trauma of feeling her deepest desires lost.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book about a hermaphodite living in a rural environement. The development of the characters was great and the writing was elegant. I loved the father-child relationship and how it became a story in itself and I found myself really liking the dad. I wish there would be a sequal to this!
    • 5/5
      It's hard to believe when you read this book that this is Kathleen Winter's first novel. It is very well written and appears to be written by a veteran author. Her characterizations are quite wonderful, and her protagonist (Wayne/Annabel) is very realistic. As I was reading I couldn't help but wonder how she knew what growing up in a small remote Labrador village with all these hidden secrets like Wayne has must be very difficult, and she seems to have captured all Wayne's uncertainty and doubts masterfully. Wayne's father Treadway is a very strong character. He is a man who is very independent and at one with nature. Every thing to Treadway is either black or white, so he doesn't know how to deal with his unique son. He makes a decision to raise Wayne as a boy, and spends all of Wayne's growing up years trying to drill masculinity into him. We see a growth in Treadway as this novel progresses as well as in Wayne. A very difficult book to read in some ways because of the subject matter and because of the loneliness of Wayne and his mother, but a book that is well worth reading. There is a depth to this book that is quite astonishing.

    Book preview

    Annabel - Kathleen Winter

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