Annabel

ANNABEL

by Kathleen Winter

 

Nomination: Dublin Longlist 2012, Women's Prize Finalist 2011

 

Date Read: August 8, 2022

 

Annabel is a novel about identity, gender, and understanding. Set in the 1970s, Wayne was born a hermaphrodite and, as most parents have been urged to do, choose a gender for their child. They decided their child would be a boy and his name is Wayne.

 

As Wayne grows, however, he displays more characteristics of being a girl – trapped menstruation blood, breast buds, etc. While Treadway and Jacinta, Wayne’s parents, witness these traits, they never discuss it openly with each other or Wayne. In fact, Wayne is never told that he was born both male and female. The parents believed once they decided to raise their child as a boy, he would be a boy.

 

Wayne’s process of finding his true self is stunted by his lack of information, his isolated upbringing in Labrador and a mild fear of what lies within him. When he does discover that there is a girl within himself, this knowledge changes his views of himself and alters who he will become. Annabel is the name a loving neighbor and teacher gives to the female part of Wayne (named after her dead daughter) and Wayne uses this name for the female part of himself.

 

Treadway resists acknowledging any femaleness in Wayne. He is an introverted trapper, used to spending endless months on his trapline in search of fur that is the sole income to support his family. Wayne never shows much interest or aptitude for his father’s lifestyle and is always holding his breath that his father won’t ask him to miss school to go on the trapline with him.

 

After Wayne graduates from high school, he realizes he needs time to discover his true self and moves to St. Johns, where he experiments with giving Annabel a presence. Of course, there are those that cannot abide ambiguity and difference and a pack of boys with nothing better to do sexually assault Annabel as she is in the process of transitioning.

 

It appears as if Annabel is always going to live her life in limbo, with no real direction, resigned to delivering meat out of her van. But, due to her father’s love, she is given the gift of an education, which will tap into the intellect, sensitivity and brilliance of this human being.

 

There are many characters along the way that show true humanity towards Wayne/Annabel including his childhood friend Wally and his neighbor/teacher Theodosia. Her mother, Jacinta, also always accepts Annabel for who she is. Their compassion and understanding are everything to Annabel.

 

Fortunately, today our understanding about gender isn’t that simple and parents are encouraged for a child such as Wayne to wait until puberty and see which gender the child actually is.

 

Overall, I really appreciated Winter’s approach to gender ambiguity and a great deal of compassion was elicited by this character. The writing was average but the plot was solid. A solid 3 stars.