Middlesex

The most recent Pulitzer Prize winning novel that I read was Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides (which won in 2003).

I LOVED this book. I think it's my favorite of the ones I've read so far for my 1001 list (which doesn't count To Kill a Mockingbird, which I read a few years ago and is still my favorite Pulitzer Prize winner).

Middlesex tells the story of a family - but not just any family. The Stephanides family's story begins with the main character's grandparents, who immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. The big family secret is that said grandparents were both first cousins and brother and sister. Scandalous!

This incestuous relationship resulted in two children, and planted the seed for a genetic condition that would eventually show up in Callie (Cal) Stephanides, grandchild of the immigrants. This condition results in a hermaphroditic child who appears to be a girl, and is treated as such until puberty, when the truth is eventually revealed.

What made this book so captivating, though, wasn't just the unique circumstances of the family, but the relationships in the book and the characters themselves. They were wonderfully written, and I just couldn't wait to find out what happened from page to page.

This was an excellent book. I'm glad I read it.