Both a family saga and the story of one man's struggle to discover his identity, Middlesex tells the story of Calliope Stephanides, or Cal, an intersex man who was raised a girl, only to learn in his teens that he is a male. Due to a history of inbreeding in his family, Cal has a rare genetic condition. He ultimately decides to live as a male, despite having spent years as a female. The conflict between nature and nurture and between choice and fate are major themes in the book.
A Fatal Decision Middlesex by Jefrey Eugenides is an astonishing tale of a gene that passes down through three generations of a Greek American family and flowers in the body of Calliope Stephanides Calliope Stephanides grandparents Lefty and Desdemona Stephanides are left alone high on the slope of Mount Olympus in Asia Minor without the guidance and the presence of any parents Desdemona and Lefty are siblings confused about the truth behind their abnormal emotions towards each other Desdemona