Gender and Binaries
Gender and binaries are central to Laurie Frankel’s This is How it Always is. When Penn and Rosie discover their son Claude has gender dysphoria—the term given to the stress one feels when their internal gender identity does not match their outward gender appearance—gender and gender binaries quickly become a big part of their lives, just as those things have always been a big part of Claude’s life. By way of highlighting Claude’s differences…
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Secrets and Misunderstanding
After Penn and Rosie discover their son, Claude, is really a girl, secrets become a big part of their lives. Penn and Rosie aren’t sure how much of Claude, and later Poppy’s, gender identity should be shared with others, and they don’t know what they should keep completely to themselves. Rosie is an emergency room physician, and after she treats Jane Doe, a transgender woman who is shot and nearly beaten to death…
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Violence and Discrimination
Lurie Frankel’s This is How it Always is focuses on Claude, a boy who struggles with gender dysphoria—meaning his internal gender identity is at odds with his outward gender appearance—and discrimination and violence are, unfortunately, a major part of his life, both before and after transitioning into Poppy. Poppy’s parents, Rosie and Penn, keep a “no-fly list,” which identifies the kids Poppy shouldn’t play with because either the kids or their parents don’t…
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Storytelling
Storytelling is a primary theme in Laurie Frankel’s This is How it Always is. The novel focuses on Claude, a young boy struggling with his gender identity who ultimately transitions to a girl named Poppy, but Claude, and later Poppy’s, struggles are only half the story. The novel also focuses on Poppy’s parents, Rosie and Penn. Penn, a fiction writer, has long since been working on a novel of his own, and…
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Family
Family is an exceedingly important part of Laurie Frankel’s This is How it Always is. The novel tells the story of Rosie and Penn and their family, and the lengths Rosie and Penn are willing to go to make sure their five children are happy, healthy, and safe. The importance of family is first reflected when Rosie and Penn name their oldest son Roosevelt after his grandfather, and it is later reflected in Rosie’s…
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