Is this the Way it Always Has Been? a Short Review of "This is How it Always Is"
An encouragement to read Laurie Frankel.
“This is How It Always Is” by Laurie Frankel is an engaging love story, spouse-on-spouse, sibling-on-sibling, parent-on-child, child-on-parent.
It is an allegory, a fairy tale, and a touching look at what it’s like to be in a seemingly normal, rowdy family, but that’s before the plot thickens. The characters are Physician/Mom/Rosie, Writer/Stay-at-Home Dad/Penn, and four crazily wonderful all-American brothers. Then Claude is born, presenting fully as the fifth-born son, until he becomes a toddler, at which point Claude begins communicating compelling messages that he is different than that which is in his pants would lead you to expect. From there, we have a seat at the kitchen table to witness the challenges as Claude transforms into Poppy, and we feel as if we are on speed dial, kept abreast of the latest developments.
Because Frankel doesn’t omit foibles and ambiguities, it’s believable. Because of the way Frankel narrates, you feel as if you are involved in the decision-making. Because of the calm manner in which the story is told, the hot material is palatable and digestible, and the intimate details, the web of relationships, feel delivered to your soul by a stent.
As a reader, I became engaged in the myriad of decisions confronting the family members as Poppy enters school and inches toward puberty, that crucial mile marker that is difficult to undo if you get it wrong.
But wait; there’s more. As a 5th grader, Poppy is cruelly outed in a manner that only insecure 10-year-old bullies can muster. Rather than face the mayhem, Mom and Claude/Poppy travel to a remote village in Thailand and volunteer. Rosie, of course, is a physician, and Cloppy accidentally assumes a Scheherazade role, exchanging Cinderellas and Jack and the Beanstalks for the folklore of the villagers. Poppy re-emerges on her way to wholeness, and I still haven’t spoiled the ending as I hope you decide to read for yourself.
For those of you who live in SoCal, you will have an opportunity to hear the author speak at the Hughes Center in Claremont at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 16. Thanks to the Friends of the Claremont Library for selecting This is The Way It Always Is as the current selection for “On the Same Page,” their program that encourages us all to read a book together.
And, if after you look at the Frankel book and still don’t have all of your questions answered about gender identity and expression, you can google some science, but it’s more fun and perhaps just as informative to read a story about the characters in Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. For a quick preview, click on my flash review from the Claremont Courier: "Mad Honey" Enlightens and Nourishes.
Lori, sending gratitude for that lovely comment. Your friendship is a true gift. Thanks.
Margaret! Thanks.