In my current hospital the library has recently opened a humanities section. To escape the drier journals on offer I visited the new bookcase out of curiosity. With a holiday coming up I thought there might be a book for emergency usage should it pour with rain. The title on the spine suggested a guide to the Home Counties or a history of cricket—but the picture on the front cover of a mandrake prompted a closer inspection.
A story based on a character with 5‐alpha‐reductase deficiency is probably not what most people would consider the foundations for a gripping read. However, this book is more than a tale about one person. It is an epic journey that spans generations, cultures, and continents. From the hot humid hills of Turkey to the sultry summers of Detroit, the reader follows a family's choice in partners leading to Calliope Stephanides. Calliope is slowly introduced as a child with a difference; hermaphroditism. The story starts with the expulsion of the Greek community in Turkey, and then sails across the Atlantic, until the train destination of Detroit is reached. There the generations of Stephanides cope with integration and the pull of old traditions, as they change from Greeks to Americans. The social upheaval of the black community's struggle for recognition is realised against the backdrop of Mr Ford's metal empire of car manufacture. Among all these snapshots of world events the central story is unfolded—each chapter revealing the thoughts, feelings, and insecurities of a child and teenager becoming increasingly aware that their life is somehow not the way it should be.
Calliope's tale of realisation is narrated in the first person, giving the book an intimate feel; like a full paediatric history all areas of her/his life are considered and reflected on. Any science is mentioned in passing, and the reader knows that although a genetic fault is shaping Calliope's future, her identity is not determined solely by the dice‐roll of meiosis. As one reads the book and Calliope transforms from knowing she is a girl to the epiphany of manhood, the narration seems to subtly change. To cast a stereotype, the book begins with a feeling of the feminine—sensitive reflection with more attention paid to the way others think and react. As Calliope's unexpected awakening to a more masculine outlook continues, the book takes on a more concrete appreciation of the world, with detail and description moving perception aside.
The novel encompasses the feelings and thoughts of the central character without descending into sentimentality or exploiting them in a Victorian circus side‐show. All clinicians, and families who have faced gender crises or difficult life‐changing decisions on identity should read this book; delve into an emotional trip of discovery—where the slightest direction change could lead to myriad different lives.