Reviewed by Dee
TITLE: A Proper Young Lady
AUTHOR: Lianne Simon
PUBLISHER: Faie Miss Press
LENGTH: 218 pages
Release Date: December 18, 2015
BLURB:
A woman with the complete form of Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome might never discover that she has testes in her abdomen rather than ovaries and uterus. Danièle knows, and she grieves that she can never have her own children. She has a partial form of AIS that left her with ambiguous genitals, a steady stream of doctors and psychologists, and parents determined to see her happy as a girl.
After Melanie agrees to have a baby for her, Danièle learns that the clinic can extract sperm from her own gonadal biopsies, and she becomes the biological father herself.
Ethan adores the graceful young woman named Danièle, while Melanie imagines a life with the father of her children.
Danièle? She’s happy with her intersex body—somewhere between princess and little boy.
But in a black and white world, she must choose—once and for all—who she will be. And whom she will love.
REVIEW:
It seems rather apt given the difficult time the characters, more so Danièle experienced, that this is a difficult review to write. I don’t even really know where to start, but here goes.
While this isn’t the first story I’ve read with an intersex character, it is the first I’ve read that has gone so deeply into what exactly Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) is. The author either has intimate knowledge about such things and/or did a mammoth amount of research. There are pages upon pages explaining it all. In fact, for a while I thought I’d picked up a medical journal. Which is to say, the story is very informative on that front.
I liked the addition of motorcycle riding, but as a bike rider found the amount of page time given on how to operate a clutch, throttle, brakes, gearshift, a little trite. Anyone wondering how those damn things work will love the detail! It was spot on. Likewise, those who like to know what the weather is doing on any given day will appreciate the many references to the sky, clouds and trees throughout.
So back to the story of Danièle and Melanie. The two are forced apart as young girls when Danièle’s parents and the doctors thought it would be best, as Danièle use to play the part of Daniel with Melanie when they acted out childhood dreams of marrying, which didn’t fit with Dani being raised as a girl.
The story progresses to her being flown out to have surgery so she can marry her male lover. The girls reconnect and Melanie discovers everyone has decided she should carry a baby for Danièle. This is where I had major issues with the story. There’s a lot of deception, with the garnering of sperm, people being led to believe one person had fathered the baby when in fact another had. While I appreciate this is fiction, on top of all the moral aspects, I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around any doctor agreeing to assist a young single female with IVF and surrogacy.
I never felt a true connection between the two main characters. Again everything seemed to be driven by manipulation. Melanie professed she didn’t care what sex Dani was but also declared she’d never marry a girl, not even her (Dani). The way she often referred to her as ‘the girl’ in dialogue added to my feeling of disconnect.
There’s the side story of Melanie’s mother and her battle with breast cancer, which I’m sure will pull at a few heartstrings.
The conclusion was a little odd to me, but I won’t get into that as what didn’t work for me is bound to resonate with others.
In summary, this is a fantastic story for anyone interested in learning more about AIS, and the plight someone with the condition has to go through to reach acceptance, not only within society but learning to be at peace within their own skin.
RATING:
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