''Girl Meets Boy'' is a 2007 novel by Scottish author

Ali Smith Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 A ...

and published by

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...

in the

Canongate Myth Series The ''Canongate Myth Series'' is a series of novellas published by the independent Scottish publisher Canongate Books, in which ancient myths from various cultures are reimagined and rewritten. The project was conceived in 1999 by Jamie Byng, own ...

. It was one of the "best books of 2007" according to critics at ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''.

Plot

A modern-day reinterpretation of

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

's myth of

Iphis In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Iphis ( or ; , Genitive case, gen. Ἴφιδος ''Íphidos'') was a child of Telethusa and Ligdus in Crete, born female and raised as male, who was later transformed by the goddess Isis into a m ...

, it concerns two sisters, Anthea and Imogen (Midge) living in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

. Imogen works in the marketing department of a large company producing

bottled water Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., Water well, well water, distilled water, Reverse osmosis, reverse osmosis water, mineral water, or Spring (hydrology), spring water) packaged in Plastic bottle, plastic or Glass bottle, glass water bott ...

, Anthea is on work experience in the same department but then falls in love with Robin, a

genderqueer Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

. It also vividly portrays her sister Imogen and her joyful emergence from low self-esteem.

Cover drawing

The cover drawing on the first edition is by

Tracey Emin Dame Tracey Karima Emin (; born 3 July 1963) is an English artist known for autobiographical and confessional artwork. She produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, Neon lighting, neon text ...

and entitled ''Self-portrait as a Small Bird''.

References

External links

The Complete Review
2007 British novels Novels by Ali Smith Novels about lesbian topics Novels set in Highland (council area) Canongate Books books Works based on Metamorphoses {{2000s-LGBT-novel-stub