Larque on the Wing - Softcover

Springer, Nancy

3.76

143 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380767422 ISBN 13: 9780380767427

Publisher: Avon Books, 1995

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Going through a messy mid-life crisis, forty-year-old wife and mother Larque Harootunian gets carried away with her latest doppelganger--herself at age ten--who helps transform her into a young, strong, courageous, and gay man. Reprint. K. PW.

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Review:

Larque Harootunian is having a mid-life crisis. But Larque, wife, mother and painter isn't like most 40-year-olds. All her life she's been generating "doppelgangers," psychic manifestations of her thoughts that can impact and, as she suddenly realizes, impede, the reality of her own life. She embarks on a journey of self-exploration that culminates in her transformation--a common occurrence in this world--into an attractive gay man. In the end, she must weigh the attractions of this existence against the good aspects of her actual life. A 1995 James Tiptree Award winner.

From Publishers Weekly:

Best known for her traditional fantasy novels, Springer ( Apocalypse ) here offers an offbeat contemporary tale that owes much to magical realism. Larque Harootunian is having a midlife crisis, taking stock of her comfortable life as a wife, mother and painter of chintzy pastels for the tourist market in Soudersburg, Pa. But Larque isn't like other 40-year-olds. All her life she's been generating what she calls "doppelgangers," psychic manifestations of her thoughts, and now she's made one of her preadolescent self, who chides Larque about settling for a life that bears little resemblance to her youthful imaginings. Larque then begins a journey into her own personality that culminates with her transformation into an attractive young gay man. (The narrative treats such surreal goings-on--of which there are many--as commonplace.) In the end, Larque must weigh the attractions of this existence against the good aspects of her actual life. Springer effectively uses fantasy to evoke midlife soul-searching, and Larque's self-exploration is filled with moments of authentic joy and crushing sorrow. Though the author occasionally falls off the narrow tightrope stretched between the real and the surreal, she has produced an engrossing novel about gender and self-formation that should appeal to readers both in and outside the SF/fantasy audience.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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