Michael du Preez

The subject is fascinating. The biography is really well written. And yet - this took me far too long to get through. I kept falling asleep! Basically, a young Irish girl assumes a male identity to train as a doctor, qualifies, joins the army, for god's sake, travels the world, rises through the ranks - and is only officially 'outed' on her death bed 60 years later. Like the stuff of bad Georgette Heyer novels - only 100% true!

Dr James Barry, the male persona of Margaret Anne Bulkley, was a pioneer in many senses, not least that he was actually a she (many people suspected, a few knew the truth, but nobody spoke a word, such was Barry's reputation and professional skill). Barry's original plan was to qualify as a man and then travel to Venezuela with one of 'his' early patrons and practice medicine openly as Margaret Bulkley, but instead James Barry remained, voyaging from Mauritius to Malta, St Helena, Corfu, Crimea and Canada, saving lives (including one the early successful cesarean operations) and generally pissing people off. Barry might have dressed like a man, but he was still a working class Irish woman at heart, headstrong and oustpoken. Every chapter seems to run along the lines of 'New country, higher rank, more responsibility, Barry balls somebody out (even challenging a fellow officer to a duel!), reprimanded, moves on'. A character, definitely, but not a particularly engaging or sympathetic one.

Apparently, a film is going to be made of Barry's story, with Rachel Weisz playing Margaret/James? I would have gone with Tilda Swinton or Anne Marie Duff, but this might be one instance where cherry-picking through a life to fit a film might work better than a full biography.… (altro)