Calliope (Cal) Stephanides tells the story of her life and how the choices of her grandparents and parents made her what she is an hermaphrodite.
Before escaping from Smyrna, Greece, when it was attacked by the Turks, Callies grandparents were married a union that would not have taken place if not for the chaos caused by the Turkish invasion. They came to Detroit, Michigan, because they had a cousin living there.
They struggled to make ends meet through the Roaring 20s, Prohibition and raise two children. Their daughter marries a Greek Orthodox priest and their son marries their cousins daughter.
Callie attends a private all girls school, and in junior high develops two loves acting and an attraction to her best friend, the object. What doesnt develop is her body. When she is in an accident and taken to a hospital and is seen by doctor who has never seen her before, the reason for her bodys failure to develop is diagnosed.
The story is told by a 40-something Cal who is now living in Berlin and working for the US Foreign Service. It tells the story chronologically interspersed with stories of Cals life in Berlin.
I liked the story and felt it was well-written, but it took a long time to get to the point where Callie finds out she is an hermaphrodite. Eugenides doesnt put a lot into the story after that the story is almost 2/3 done at this point. I dont know how Cal found out what the specific genetic defect is and that he could be so perfectly sure where in his family lineage the defect lodged itself in the family DNA.
Before escaping from Smyrna, Greece, when it was attacked by the Turks, Callies grandparents were married a union that would not have taken place if not for the chaos caused by the Turkish invasion. They came to Detroit, Michigan, because they had a cousin living there.
They struggled to make ends meet through the Roaring 20s, Prohibition and raise two children. Their daughter marries a Greek Orthodox priest and their son marries their cousins daughter.
Callie attends a private all girls school, and in junior high develops two loves acting and an attraction to her best friend, the object. What doesnt develop is her body. When she is in an accident and taken to a hospital and is seen by doctor who has never seen her before, the reason for her bodys failure to develop is diagnosed.
The story is told by a 40-something Cal who is now living in Berlin and working for the US Foreign Service. It tells the story chronologically interspersed with stories of Cals life in Berlin.
I liked the story and felt it was well-written, but it took a long time to get to the point where Callie finds out she is an hermaphrodite. Eugenides doesnt put a lot into the story after that the story is almost 2/3 done at this point. I dont know how Cal found out what the specific genetic defect is and that he could be so perfectly sure where in his family lineage the defect lodged itself in the family DNA.
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