Let me explain: Winter regrettably introduces a medical sub-plot where Wayne/Annabel ends up impregnating him/herself.

For me, though, where it failed felt significant enough to mostly erase where it succeeded. So it’s not that Annabel doesn’t do anything right. Winter also confidently provides a critique of the non-consensual medical procedures that many intersex people have been forced to undergo, as well as a feminist argument about the right to control one’s own reproductive health. The book doesn’t fall into the trap of contrasting Wayne/Annabel’s shame/secret with so-called normal people’s self-assurance. I really appreciated this approach and how the novel emphasizes that it’s not only intersex folks who deal with shame (about their bodies or otherwise). The theme of secrets and shame is explored in avenues other than intersexuality–for example, in the marriage of Jacinta and Treadway, Wayne/Annabel’s parents. These are intersex experiences that I think will resonate with many trans and queer folks, especially women, and Winter depicts them thoughtfully and skilfully. Winter does a great job depicting the joys and terrors of being a gender non-conforming kid she delicately and insightfully deals with a lot of the issues of shame about the gendered and sexual body that her protagonist has to confront.

After slogging through this nearly 500-page novel, I have to say: it could have been worse, but it certainly could have been better.įor the most part, Annabel resists the temptation to sensationalize the life of Wayne/Annabel, the main character. On the other hand, I knew that the possibility was probably relatively high that this exploration by a (straight cisgendered) writer who isn’t intersex might be disrespectful and/or inaccurate. On the one hand, I was excited to be able to read and feature this book on my blog, since intersex characters are so rarely explored in literature and this was the first instance I had come across in Canadian fiction. I was optimistic yet skeptical when I picked up Kathleen Winter’s novel Annabel, which features an intersex protagonist from Labrador.

Annabel by Kathleen Winter