Story on Sexual Ambiguity Goes Skin Deep in Winter's "Annabel"

Here is a book review that I did for my Canadian Literature course. We were told to choose and read a recent work by a Canadian author, who's nominated in this year's Giller Prize. Here is my book review on the novel Annabel by Kathleen Winter. A book which I chose to give a review on, and I think I wasn't disappointed. Read on and you'll find it interesting.

Books on the subject of intersex are not common. Annabel, a debut novel by Montreal-resident Kathleen Winter, devotes her strength trying not to explain the medical condition, but focuses instead on probing the dilemma and challenges of sexuality and self-knowledge in a world where there are fixed gender roles. It is a novel that revolves around the territory of human emotions and a person’s journey to self-discovery.

Set in the pristine and ethereal beauty of Croydon Harbour, Labrador in the 1970s and 1980s, Wayne Blake was born with two genitals.  His parents, Treadway and Jacinta, and their neighbour Thomasina, are the only people who know about the baby’s condition. Soon after the baby’s birth, Treadway decides to raise the child as a boy in the male-dominated hunting culture of Labrador. While Wayne is growing up, Jacinta and Thomasina nurture his female side in their own respective ways. Wayne’s true sexuality is unknown to him but his latent female side is manifesting and can’t be ignored. Already an adult, Wayne moves to St. John’s in his quest to rediscover his true self. Despite the odds and the pain he experiences, Wayne emerges to be more courageous than the people around him.

The novel brings its reader into the characters’ emotional journey and humanity. It is not a grave attempt to explain the medical side of intersex or the condition known as hermaphroditism, but it gives the reader an intimate portrait of a person struggling to live an identity which the society views as a big mistake. The story also covers other conventional issues such as the breakdown of a family due to a married couple’s lack of communication as seen in the life of Treadway and Jacinta; and the contrasting pull between rural and urban life.

Author Kathleen Winter was raised in Newfoundland and now lives in Montreal with her husband and two daughters. She loves to read since when she was a child and says that she wanted to be a writer from the time she learned how to read. Kathleen used to write a weekly column for St. John’s Telegram; wrote for television and CBC documentaries; and wrote segments and songs for Sesame Street. Although Annabel is her debut novel, Kathleen wrote her first book, boYs which is a collection of short stories. Winter’s debut novel Annabel is the only book nominated for all three major literary prizes in Canada for 2010: the Giller Prize, the Governor-General’s Literary Award for English fiction and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

Winter’s Annabel is inspired by her first visit to North West River, Labrador while working as a journalist for CBC, where she learned of several people who were born with hermaphroditism. From that point, Winter wrote her thirty-page story. She revealed that she didn’t know so much about the subject beforehand but it was a constant discovery and learning for her while writing the book.

Annabel is written in such a fashion that it’s like a fascinating lyrical prose. Readers can vividly taste, smell, feel, touch and experience the uniqueness and raw beauty of Labrador. The words simply jump off the pages of the book, giving readers a rich perspective into the lives of the characters and their unique situations. The novel is a third-person narrative and started with a prologue that describes the mythical allure of a white caribou seen through the eyes of Annabel, before she and her blind father fell into the water and drowned to death. The incident sets as an undertone of what could be the possible conflict or goal of the central character. The white caribou is also meant to be a metaphor to suggest the self-discovery of Wayne, who is the central character in the novel. The story progresses at a slow pace, in which the author is trying to narrate every possible milestone in Wayne’s childhood days. There are a few scenes in the novel which I think wouldn’t matter if it were omitted because those few scenes hardly contribute to the development of the plot. The ending on the other hand stays away from the usual storybook formula where resolutions are given. Rather the readers are left to draw their own conclusions of what could be the fate of all the characters. Readers are left with a glimpse into the characters’ individual situations. Each one is constantly evolving and changing. Every character shows a glimmer of hope despite of a past that was painted with despair and the harshness of life.

Annabel is a novel that manifests a lot of the traditional conventions found in modern literature. It has a straightforward plot and there is an emphasis on the individual’s inner thoughts and feelings as seen in the character of Wayne and that of the other main characters including Treadway and Jacinta. There is also a good portion of the story where time is seen from the perspective of the character especially in the case of Treadway who spends most of his time in the terrains of Labrador. The story has an open ending which is more representative of what reality is. After reading the novel, readers will find that this story is a celebration of inner strength in the face of adversity.

Since Winter’s objective is not to give a full explanation of what intersex is all about, she achieves in drawing the emotions and humanity of the characters to her readers. As in the character of Treadway, he’s known to be an expert hunter and good provider, despite the fact that he’s silent and inexpressive of his emotions and thoughts towards his wife and son. But as the story progresses especially in the last few chapters of the book, one can see Treadway’s transition into a sympathetic and understanding father, who finally accepts his son for who he really is.

Adult readers who find how people handle adversities and their personal struggles interesting, might find Annabel just the perfect book to read. Readers don’t necessarily have to have prior knowledge on intersex in order to understand the book. It has always been the author’s intention to draw the human side of the story and dwell into the territory of each character’s emotions.

The language used is simple which makes it easy to understand. It’s not written in a scholarly fashion where words are hard to grasp, nor was it written with medical terms that could easily turn-off a vast majority of potential readers. I admire the novel for the way it is written and presented. It is unpretentious and bears so much reality in it, that one can relate in some way or the other, with each of the character’s loneliness. The subject of intersex may be of great interest already to anyone who hardly knows what it’s all about; but the other issues involved merit the novel a good number of readers.

Kathleen Winter’s Annabel is a unique and moving story that appeals to anyone who is in a search for a good and inspiring read. This is not a story of pure sorrow but a story of triumph that celebrates the courage and hope in every person, to express the true self within. Annabel is a must-read this 2010 and will serve as a good addition to anyone’s library of contemporary Canadian literary works.