Trans-Sister
Radio
Fiction by Chris Bohjalian
Copyright 2000, 344 pages, $24.00
Harmony Books
ISBN 0-609-60407-4 (Hardcover)
Capsule:
Mix one part Vermont, one part love and sex, one part public
school system, and one part trans-phobia and you have an earnest,
very believable story about a man about to undergo a sex change
and the woman who falls in love with him. As far as transsexuals
go, there isn't a whole lot new here, but the author has done his
research and his characters really come alive, including the
woman's ex-husband and her college-age daughter. Two things
happen: a town feels threatened by gender-bending and a sex
change, and a love affair is tested.
Full review:
Mainstream author Chris Bohjalian achieved national recognition when his novel Midwives was chosen for the Oprah (Winfrey) Book Club in 1998. To his credit, he hasn't steered a safe course in his work since. Even today, any serious novel about a transsexual is more likely to end up as a selection of the Jenny Jones Book Club.
Bohjalian: " ... I grew interested in the idea of a novel about a transsexual because I have a female friend in New York who had fallen deeply in love with a man who was planning to have a sex change. For a while they dated, but she didn't believe their love could endure her partner's sex change. And so they broke up, and her ex-boyfriend had his sexual reassignment and became female. Some years later, however, when my friend and I were chatting, she told me that she had never loved anyone as much as she had loved that transsexual. She doubted a day had gone by when she hadn't thought about this other person, and she wondered what if ... In some ways, Trans-Sister Radio is that wistful 'what if.'"
One would expect this story would revolve around the transsexual (Dana Stevens, a college professor). To the contrary: the main character is actually his lover, Allison Banks, a popular elementary school teacher. Allison needs strong love and good sex, and if she isn't getting both, she'll leave a relationship. As the book begins, she's left her first husband Will, the manager of a local public radio station. Her daughter from that union, Carly, is about to leave the nest for her first year of college.
Allison takes a summer class from Dana Stevens, a wonderfully friendly, perceptive and gentle man who charms her and her daughter. After Dana and Allison fall in love and into bed, he finally dares to tell her about his gender unhappiness and plans for a sex change. He's already been taking hormones, having electrolysis (hair removal) done, and plucking his eyebrows. Allison's ex and others are already guessing he's a transvestite.
There's a professional deliberateness here as the author cuts quickly to the chase and creates strong dynamics. The story is told from the point of view of each of the four main characters, along with the device of a National Public Radio transcript (a faux All Things Considered series devoted to examining the Dana-Allison relationship). Slightly gimmicky, but it contributes a neutral, fifth point of view.
When Allison falls in love, she falls deep, and invites Dana to live with her, despite negative comments from her ex (who still loves her). Soon Dana begins dressing as a woman in the short period before his operation in Colorado. Dana reassures Allison that he will be a lesbian transsexual, still attracted to her, but Allison wonders if she can continue to love a female Dana. Both Allison and her ex wonder why Dana can't keep his penis and testicles but live as a woman. As Will (the ex) says, "Tolerating them [crossdressers and transsexuals ] is better than mutilating them [having all male genitalia removed]."
But Dana hates his penis -- it's like a foreign growth, an unwanted big wart. So preparations are made to fly to Colorado for the operation. As the procedure takes place, with an unsettled Allison Banks in attendance, the book, page-wise, is half done.
The second half of the story's more complex and tense. Many people in Allison's town (mostly New England conservative) are uncomfortable around Dana and think he's freakish or insane. But worse, a petition has been circulating stating that elementary school teachers should uphold high moral standards because they're role models. Most adults Allison meet profess to accept gays and lesbians -- but there's this matter of her lover's gender perversion. The superintendent of schools advises her to take a leave of absence. Allison refuses to budge and when meeting with her principal and the head of the school board, finally loses it: "That's enough! ... How dare you suggest that what I do with my life is wrong!"
Someone spray-paints "FAGGOT CUNTS" on their front door. Dana goes overboard trying to invest the relationship with some of the old magic, but sex toys and romantic interludes come up somewhat lacking. Allison's ex does a turnabout and becomes an ally. As the story heads toward its conclusion there are some unexpected twists.
Trans-Sister Radio scores points for creating a realistic story, a story less about transsexualism and more about falling in and out of love, and what's right and wrong. The endearing qualities that attracted Allison to Dana, when taken to their logical end, also led to problems.
Kudos to Chris Bohjalian for writing a very human, erudite, and sexually honest novel.
(Reviewer: Valory Gravois) (Copyright © 2000 by Alchemist/Light Publishing)
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