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Title: This Is How It Always Is
Author: Laurie Frankel
Narrator: Gabra Zackman
Format: Unabridged
Length: 11 hrs
Language: English
Release date: 01-26-17
Publisher: Headline Review
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 6 votes
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
Laurie Frankel's This Is How It Always Is is a warm, touching and bittersweet novel about a family that's just like any other - until it's not. For fans of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
Rosie and Penn always wanted a daughter. Four sons later, they decide to try one last time - and their beautiful little boy Claude is born. Life continues happily for this big, loving family until the day when Claude says that when he grows up, he wants to be a girl. As far as Rosie and Penn are concerned, bright, funny and wonderful Claude can be whoever he or she wants. But as problems begin at school and in the community, the family faces a seemingly impossible dilemma: should Claude change, or should they and Claude try to change the world?
Warm, touching and bittersweet, This Is How It Always Is is a novel about families, love and how we choose to define ourselves. It will make you laugh and cry - and see the world differently.
Critic Reviews:
"A lively and fascinating story of a thoroughly modern family and the giant, multifaceted love that binds them... Sparkles with wit and wisdom." (Maria Semple, best-selling author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette)
Members Reviews:
A completely genius debut
Transgender issues have been talked about from many different perspectives but through the eyes of five-year-old Claude, Laurie Frankel manages to present us with something entirely new. And in the process, she's managed to make me think about gender and identity in a completely different way. As young Poppy gradually emerges, the listener is encouraged to confront the complexities of the situation as well as realising that they by no means define a person or their potential.
Perfect
One of those stories you don't want to end. Heartbreaking, beautiful and absolutely gorgeous- a must read!
An incredible book!
If you could sum up This Is How It Always Is in three words, what would they be?
Engaging, absorbing and brilliant!
What was one of the most memorable moments of This Is How It Always Is?
Claude/Poppy discovering the 'middle way' and Buddhism in Thailand
What does Gabra Zackman bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?
The narration brings a sensitivity and vulnerability to the voice of Poppy and Claude.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It was at times heartbreaking, at others life-affirming and left me with a sense of optimism
Any additional comments?
I loved the story, the way it was told and will remember the complex cahracters
An intelligent take on gender issues
Where does This Is How It Always Is rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?
It comes pretty high up!
Which scene did you most enjoy?
The scenes where Penn reads the bedtime stories
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Absolutely
Any additional comments?
Laurie Frankel has done a brilliant job of presenting to the listener all the most pressing and contentious transgender issues in this accessible, often funny and touching novel. From wanting to wear a dress and carry a handbag on his first day at primary school to hiding a secret from the girlfriends that he loves having sleepovers with, Claude has to navigate some complicated truths on the road to properly becoming Poppy.
