Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is an epic family saga and a sweeping novel of history and identity. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author takes readers on a journey of four generations of a Greek-American family. The novel follows the struggles of Calliope Stephanides, a hermaphrodite born in Detroit in the late 1960s, and her complex family history stretching back to 1920s Greece.
The title is a reference to the ancient Greek city of the same name, which was the setting of a popular epic poem by Homer. The novel’s narrator, Cal, uses this reference to illustrate the idea of his family history as a kind of epic tale, with themes of fate and destiny woven throughout.
Middlesex opens in the present day with Cal, a hermaphrodite, telling his story. His parents, Lena and Milton Stephanides, are Greek immigrants living in Detroit. Lena and Milton’s childhoods in a small town in Turkey set the scene for their eventual journey to the United States.
The novel then moves back in time, tracing the history of the Stephanides family back to its roots in Smyrna, a city in ancient Greece. The story follows five generations of the Stephanides family, from the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922, to their escape from the city’s destruction, and to the family’s attempt to start a new life in Detroit. The story is filled with tragedy, secrets, and secrets within secrets, as the Stephanides family’s history is slowly unraveled.
As the novel progresses, readers come to understand Cal’s hermaphroditism and how it fits into the family’s history of tragedy and secrets. When Cal meets and falls in love with an intersex student, he is able to explore his own identity and discover how his own history and identity are connected to the larger story of Middlesex.
Through the twists and turns of the novel, Eugenides creates a vivid and captivating portrait of immigration and identity. He uses his characters and household scenes to explore ideas of assimilation, belonging, culture, and the idea of home. Middlesex is a powerful exploration of family dynamics, immigration, sex and gender, and ultimately, identity. The novel is a thought-provoking examination of history, family, and identity, and an exploration of the complicated interplay between all three.
