Unveiling Hidden Truths: Julie Marie Wade’s Riveting Journey in "Other People’s Mothers"
In the first essay, “Mrs. Mann [Or a Study of the Fates of Different Drummers],” Wade deftly introduces major themes and the stakes of the work: gender identity, sexual orientation, and reactionary politics — themes which animate her body of work.
Here, Wade learns that her and first-grade classmate Steven Mann’s imaginative games with My Little Ponies pose a big problem for both their families. Steven excels at piano and is lousy at sports and longs to dress as Florence Nightingale for Halloween. His parents insist he be He-Man for Halloween, a rather unsubtle contrast. In a memorable scene, Mrs. Mann walks Julie into her decorous bedroom, where, “twisting the fat diamond on her finger and growing red around her ears,” she dresses Julie down for suggesting to Steven that boys and girls aren’t the only kind of people in the world. Mood is projected onto setting: driving home from the Mann’s house, the narrator describes “evergreens like spears,” expounding, “just because people string lights through the branches this time of year doesn’t mean the subtle hint of violence disappears.” This subtle hint of violence threads through the text, at times erupting.
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