''Pantomime'' is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novel by L. R. Lam, originally published in 2013 by Strange Chemistry and rereleased by Tor UK in 2016. The first in the Micah Grey trilogy, ''Pantomime'' centers around an

intersex Intersex people are those born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binar ...

character who was raised as a female in a fictional, Victorian styled world.

Plot summary

The main character has two separate personas, one a female named Gene, and one as a male named Micah Grey. Raised in a well-to-do family, Gene was taught to hide that she was intersex to everyone around her. Gene spent much of her life seeing multiple doctors in an attempt to understand her condition. After discovering that her parents were planning to have her operated on without her consent, Gene runs away from home to live on the streets. After a week of scrounging on the streets and hiding from the law enforcement, Gene comes across the traveling circus on the beach. Telling the circus members that she was a runaway boy named Micah, she joins the circus, and assumes the identity of a male. Micah quickly realizes that the members of the circus have just as many secrets as he does. The ringleader and owner, Bil Ragona, is an abusive alcoholic with terrible money skills, and after his wife leaves him, the circus suffers. When Bil decides to put on a

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

in order to attract a larger part, Micah is cast as the female lead. This leads to suspicion from some of the circus members, including Bil. Enticed by the reward for finding Gene, Bil attempts to kidnap Micah. After being rescued by a close friend in the circus, Drystan, the two escape into the city to hide from circus members and policemen alike.

Awards and nominations

* ''Sydney J. Bounds'' Best Newcomer Award,

British Fantasy Society The British Fantasy Society (BFS) was founded in 1971 as the British Weird Fantasy Society, an offshoot of the British Science Fiction Association. The society is dedicated to promoting the best in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. ...

2014 (nominated) * "Teens Book of the Month" May 2014,

Scottish Book Trust Scottish Book Trust is a national charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland promoting literature, reading and writing in Scotland. Scottish Book Trust works with and for a range of audiences, including babies and parents (through the Bookbug programm ...

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

Rainbow List The Rainbow List (called the Pink List until 2014) is a list of the most influential openly LGBTQ individuals in the United Kingdom, published annually in the British national newspaper ''The Independent on Sunday''. The list was started in 200 ...

(2014, top ten title) * Bisexual Book Award, Speculative Fiction 2014

Notes

References

2013 British novels 2013 fantasy novels Intersex fiction British LGBTQ novels Tor Books books {{2010s-LGBT-novel-stub