Middlesex
in the Middle Ages? Almost. In this complex, intelligent novel, Horsley tells the story of Grey, a 14th-century Irish peasant girl who, until adolescence, believed she was male. The youngest of eight daughters, Grey is passed off as a boy because her father, the half-witted Goatherd of Finnestuath, has vowed to kill the infant if it's a girl. Her mother, "fleabitten" Mary, raises Grey with all the extra attention, food and care befitting an only son, believing that Grey might be a changeling, a "boy without a cock." (Like her neighbors, Mary believes in fairies and demonic possession as much as she believes what the Catholic priests tell her.) As she grows up, Grey must endlessly recreate herself: first when the local priest snatches her from her family to be his assistant, later when she discovers she is female, then again when she becomes a monk's helper, pretending to be a deaf-mute, and a monastery whore. Later she becomes an unwed mother, and finally, the warrior she'd always dreamed of being. The only constant is Grey's strength and instinct for survival; she endures family tragedy, church corruption and the horrors of the Black Plague. While recounting the short, hard lives and tortuous times of the poor medieval Irish, Horsley also raises thought-provoking questions of religion and identity. Told with rich detail, warmth and wry wit, this is a full and well-researched tale with a compelling protagonist. (Jan.)
