Annabel

Author:  Kathleen Winter

Publisher:  House of Anansi, 2011

Edition:  Print

Where I got the book:  Strathcona High School Library

Publisher's Summary:


In 1968, into the beautiful, spare environment of remote coastal Labrador, a mysterious child is born: a baby who appears to be neither fully boy nor girl, but both at once.  Only three people are privy to the secret - the baby's parents, Jacinta and Treadway, and a trusted neighbour, Thomasina.  Together the adults make a difficult decision: to raise the child as a boy named Wayne.  But as Wayne grows to adulthood within the hyper-masculine hunting culture of his father, his shadow-self --a girl he thinks of as "Annabel" - is never entirely extinguished, and indeed is secretly nurtured by the women in his life.

Haunting and sweeping in scope, Annabel is a compelling tale about one person's struggle to discover the truth in a culture that shuns contradiction.