Book Review: Trans-sister Radio

[sarahmichelef]

When I was in the library last week I noticed the name Chris Bohjalian on one of the racks up front and knew it looked familiar. The book was Trans-Sister Radio and I picked it up. I realized right away why the name was familiar - I read Midwives about this time last year and really enjoyed it. So of course I brought this one home with me, too. I found the book to be quite engrossing and enjoyable. The premise is that a middle-aged woman falls in love with the professor who's teaching her summer class only to learn that he's a pre-op M2F transsexual. The story is told from four points of view: Dana (the M2F), Allie (Dana's lover), Will (Allie's ex-husband and head of Vermont Public Radio), and Carly (Allie and Will's daughter, who is a freshman at Bennington College). Occasionally this narrative style got a little confusing, but it didn't interfere too much. More weird were the little radio-transcript interludes. Honestly, the radio bit didn't do anything to advance the plot. I obviously don't know how well Dana reflects the experience of other trans folks, but I found her to be an interesting character.

The thing I did NOT see coming was the final hook-up. I never thought that Allie and Dana would stay together for good, but I sure as hell didn't foresee the final pairing being Dana and Will.