Annabel Summary

In 1968, a year before the New York World's Fair devoted to the celebration of urban growth, an intersex baby was born in Croydon Harbour, Canada—a small, conservative town that was the last place ready to be on such a disruption to the natural order. The baby was born with male and female genitalia—and to the parents, this was confusing. The somewhat patriarchal father, Treadway, determined that any signs of a male identity would keep his child from transitioning into the wild and falling victim to his arbitrary societal expectations, and changed the child's name to Wayne. The female mother, however, raised him publicly as a boy, but in private, with his BFF Thomasina, Wayne was Annabel and she encouraged Annabel's dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer. Thus, Wayne comes to this conclusion as he grows older, coming to the understanding that he's not the image of masculinity. Yet things get messy when Wayne transitions into puberty himself and gets his period. The transformation with his friend Wally—someone who ultimately enjoyed spending time with him—counts as a third transformation because Treadway sees Wally as something that could be castrated to render Wayne more of a man. Thus, in an attempt to male-bond with him, Treadway lets Wayne assist him in constructing a bridge over the creek; this is an experiment in male bonding Treadway attempts for the two. Wayne feminizes the bridge, draping it in curtains, adding lights. Treadway goes crazy; he removes the curtains, restyles the bridge the way it once was, and forces Wayne to stop seeing Wally. Ultimately, Wayne ceased the masculinizing hormones when he was no longer eligible to attend Croydon Harbour. He returned in a brave attempt to reverse what had been done forever—what better way than to let his body feminize and reconcile with both aspects of his identity, Wayne and Wally. Ultimately, he reconciled with his father's rigid position and embraced Wally—his transformation was complete. The tale of Wayne is one of unexpected resilience, transformation, and empowerment.