A review by kim_lockhart
Manywhere: Stories, by Morgan Thomas
5.0
What if you could step fully into yourself, to be authentically and literally true to yourself? And what if there were others just like you who prepared the way?
Morgan Thomas provides gender queer origin stories, and gives all LGBQTIA+ folks legends to lean on.
The dreamlike spirit of the Southern settings (esp. New Orleans) is the perfect conduit to spark these tales. The characters face an array of allegorical storms (and sometimes real ones).
More than in any other novel I've read, I've felt the undercurrent of anxiety one feels when every interaction could be complicated by one's identity. This perspective is a worldview where you're always seeing the world looking back at you. It must take significant energy to move through everyday environments.
Also, the author zeroes in on the careful control one must exert at all times. Imagine never being able to relax into your softer self around other people, having to be guarded, watchful. They fully inhabit this space by taking up as little space as possible.
Out of these stories an ultimate question takes shape: what if we lived not just authentically, but audaciously? It's the perfect time to ask.
Morgan Thomas provides gender queer origin stories, and gives all LGBQTIA+ folks legends to lean on.
The dreamlike spirit of the Southern settings (esp. New Orleans) is the perfect conduit to spark these tales. The characters face an array of allegorical storms (and sometimes real ones).
More than in any other novel I've read, I've felt the undercurrent of anxiety one feels when every interaction could be complicated by one's identity. This perspective is a worldview where you're always seeing the world looking back at you. It must take significant energy to move through everyday environments.
Also, the author zeroes in on the careful control one must exert at all times. Imagine never being able to relax into your softer self around other people, having to be guarded, watchful. They fully inhabit this space by taking up as little space as possible.
Out of these stories an ultimate question takes shape: what if we lived not just authentically, but audaciously? It's the perfect time to ask.