Erin's Book #24: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I'd heard about this book and how great it was for years, so when I found it at a book sale for $5, I finally picked it up. Middlesex follows the incestuous Stephanides family. It begins in Smyrna, where brother and sister Lefty and Desdemona watch their city burn to the ground and flee to the U.S., specifically Detroit. Both secretly harboring feelings for their sibling back in Smyrna, they decide on the boat to reinvent themselves as a married couple. Desdemona carries around a tremendous amount of guilt over their union and fears for her offspring. But nothing happens until their son Milton marries his second cousin and the resulting child, Calliope turned Cal, is a hermaphrodite.

Cal narrates the entire novel, which is an interesting perspective, as he often presents his view of things that happened decades before he was born. It's a fascinating look at the entire family, each generation engrossing in their own way. Sure, it's a little dark and creepy, but it's a truly original, beautifully-written book.