published 1994, William Morrow & Co.

"The reward of truthtellers is often laughter," says Nancy Springer in Larque on the Wing, her hilariously disturbing novel about gender, childhood, and the banality of home life. Springer balances a cruelly realistic look at modern life against a colorful, romantic vision in which cowboys are real and people can transform themselves into what they truly wish to be. The resulting tension shakes the reader into laughter.

Larque, the main character, starts her midlife crisis the day her inner child decides to pop out of her psyche and run away, taking Larque's artistic talent (and source of income) with her. Larque's already blessed with a magical talent: the ability to Doppelganger, or create transient visions of things or people as they appear to her. She sees deeper than most people, and that enables her to find Popular Street, where all is happy and gay (literally).

When Larque's brat of an inner child demands that she get a makeover here, Larque complies, and is turned into an adolescent boy. Needless to say, her husband and teenaged sons don't react well. Her best friend comes on to her, and her mother decides to Do Something about all this. And things get stranger from this point on.

Springer's book is a scathing critique of our society. For me the most telling aspect of all was that her main character couldn't be strong, idealistic, or brave while she was frumpy, middle-aged, and female. Why does a person who wants to be strong, brave, and true have to be male in our world? Not to mention young and cool. Why do the expectations parents have of little girls rob them of their souls? Springer can make us hellishly uncomfortable through our laughter.

Review by Becky Parkhurst
Reviewed June 29, 1996

ISBN 0-688-13175-1

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