Honeybee

 

Craig Silvey's Honeybee was the other library book that copped the coffee spillage -- I felt sightly less guilty about this one, because it had obviously been well-read already (The Writer Laid Bare was brand new), and I knew there were other copies available for the long line of readers in the reserve queue. Honeybee has been incredibly popular, but I must confess I approached it with a degree of caution, knowing that it centred on a trans character, and knowing that Silvey himself is not trans.

I don't think there was any need to worry (I haven't found any complaints from trans readers themselves either). Honeybee is a gorgeous novel, sympathetic, funny, warm and painful, a totally accessible and friendly introduction to a difficult area of experience. Honeybee/Sam/Victoria is such a vulnerable but kind and thoughtful character, it's impossible not to be on their side from the outset, and Silvey leads us gently but inexorably through their life story to a point where their identity makes perfect sense even to the most sceptical or ignorant reader -- I guess we are in the position of Vic, the frail, bereaved old man who befriends Sam for all the right reasons -- and if Vic accepts Sam for who they are, then we will, too. The novel is sprinkled with stories from all sorts of people Sam encounters along the way -- drag queens, bikers, a bright school girl, his mum, his step-father's scary criminal mate -- they all have their own tales of suffering, survival and joy to share, and this added immense depth to this deceptively simple story.

I really loved Honeybee and it makes a perfect introduction to issues that some people still find very confronting. It's adult fiction, but young adults could also get a lot out of it, with perhaps a language and violence warning.

(Disclaimer: I met Craig Silvey years ago when Jasper Jones had just come out, and he was absolutely lovely -- I suspect nothing has changed.)