Thursday 29 June 2017

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides


Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
First published in America by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in September 2002.

I registered my copy of this book at Bookcrossing

Where to buy this book:
Buy the book from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the ebook from Kobo
Buy the paperback from Speedyhen
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Swapped for in the book exchange at Camping Alvor, Portugal

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974." 
So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and her truly unique family secret, born on the slopes of Mount Olympus and passed on through three generations. Growing up in 70s Michigan, Calliope’s special inheritance will turn her into Cal, the narrator of this intersex, inter-generational epic of immigrant life in 20th century America.

When I finally got around to reading Middlesex, having been put off by how long a book it appeared to be, I was kicking myself for not reading this book some ten years previously when it was originally published. It is a fantastically rich novel that I absolutely loved. An epic tale of three generations of a Greek family who emigrated to America, Middlesex traces the family's story through a defective gene in their makeup. Eugenides writing is assured and detailed, as much a history lesson as a novel and with so many wonderful characters. All other books I read that year had a long way to go to beat Middlesex!


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Jeffrey Eugenides / Historical fiction / Books from America

2 comments:

  1. I have heard a lot of amazing things about this book but the size makes me wary too. I am happy to hear it is going to be worth reading all those pages for!

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