Golden Boy–Abigail Tarttelin

goldenBoy

Not since Herculine Barbin’s autobiography has a book so thoroughly opened up old wounds. After reading the opening scenes, I set Golden Boy aside for several days while I debated how wise it would be to finish it.

The protagonist in Golden Boy is Max, an intersex teen living as a boy. At the beginning of the novel he’s raped by a male friend who treats Max sexually as female. And Max doesn’t go to the authorities.

Long ago, a roommate in the boys’ dorm–yes, boys’ dorm–proved that he could do whatever he wanted to me. No, I wasn’t sexually assaulted. Not exactly, anyway. But it was clear that, to him, I wasn’t a boy. And I didn’t go to the authorities. Why not? Read Golden Boy. Max would understand.

Max has a close family–father, mother, brother–that doesn’t seem to realize just how dysfunctional they are. Father is running for Parliament. Mother’s a hot-shot attorney. Brother has his own issues and is a bit annoyed at Max’s perfection.

But the opening was compelling enough to draw me in. I’m glad I finished the book, but it took several weeks to get over the visceral reaction I got every time I recalled some of the novel’s events. Yes. Entirely too close to home.

Abigail Tarttelin deals well with issues faced by one intersex teen, and how it all changes when someone discovers his secret, and how little control some kids have over their lives.

Very few of us get to the point of not caring who knows we’re intersex. Even fewer, perhaps, can forget that we are. For Max, coming to terms with his condition is traumatic. No. Let me restate that. For Max, the trauma isn’t his condition. It’s how everyone around him treats him. Ms Tarttelin does an excellent job of demonstrating how each person in Max’s life reacts. In the end, even those who are supposed to be closest to him, won’t let him make his own decisions.

Golden Boy should be released in May. Highly recommended whether you’re into YA or #yasaves or not.

You can see a discussion I had with the author on the MuseItUp blog.

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