Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Early in the 1900's, a brother and a sister leave their village in Greece to escape a Turkish invasion. As immigrants, they arrive in the U.S. and wind up in Detroit, Michigan, where another relative had previously emigrated. Their romance becomes the kernel for a family saga that spans three generations.

Eugenides narrates his tale through the character of Cal, a hermaphrodite who carries a rare genetic mutation that begins to manifest when she/he reaches puberty.

In the beginning of the book, during the flight from Greece, the author painted a very gruesome picture of the burning of Smyrna - my mistake was to read it at night before going to bed - however, most of the novel was very entertaining. The author created some enjoyable characters that were quite believable.

For me, the ending was a little disappointing in that the threads of the story seemed to snip off rather than gracefully weave together, but overall, I would recommend this book to older teens and adults. - Reviewed by Joyce