Michael´s mother is Greek Cypriot - his grandparents call him Mikaelis - and his father is Jamaican. He is growing up in London, gay, surrounded by love and friends, but still not feeling ´enough´.
It´s only for you to decide your identity said Michael, the character of The Black Flamingo, that I had access to as audiobook, read by the author himself in the clean British accent. He is looking for his own magic, but once he got it he is happy to share it with the others. This magic means for him playing in drag. ´I am a man and I want to wear a dress on´ it´s the identity he wants to dress on too. Your gender, assumed by birth and attributed mostly in the society context may matter but should not limit someone.
In Michael´s world, everything is a choice and this choice empowers. Even coming out it is a personal matter. When done, it should happen for and to yourself, not because other people expect you to behave in a certain way.
Written from a voice of a teenage searching for identity and ways to express the book has a message to anyone, no matter your choice of gender or ethnic background - personally I´ve loved a lot the idea that you cannot be half/quarter of something, you are a full human being; wish I had this answer long time ago when peopel were counting the percentage of my (very) complex identities I inherited from my very complex family: It´s your choice to defnite - or not - yourself. And this is a very beautiful life line...
The style of the book is easy and addresses probably a teenage audience, but it states simple yet sometimes hard to achieve objectives. Happily, Michael´s world is not stained by open violence and parental denial - his father is absent and his mother, when hearing that he is gay was ´ok with that´, although later when he wondered ´how do they know I am gay´, his mother answered plainly: ´Cruelty is part of life´ - but finding one´s place in this complicated world is not easy. Michael´s message is empowering and his fairytale inspiring.
Rating: 3 stars
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