Honestly, the only reason I picked this book up is because the colours on the cover mesmerized me...but then I read the blurb and realized it's a book I'd have picked up anyway. But yeah, the cover is gorgeouuuuus.

This book is just so lovely. I love Mootoo's prose. I love how she tells a story about the alienation of immigration, trying to learn to live in a new culture, climate, about how to make a new family and life when you've left your old one...and also a story about the alienation of being queer, alienation from your own body, trying to learn to live with a new identity, making a new family and life after embracing some new part of yourself.

I love that Sydney's path doesn't follow the "traditional" trans narrative (whatever traditional means). At no time does he ever identify as trans, and his identity seems to stem mainly from a sense of dislocation from his culture as a queer person - there were no queer couples to see in Trinidad, nothing in his culture that he felt would allow him to live freely as a woman who loves a woman - his discomfort with his female body came from the way it looked next to another female body. I'm using male pronouns because in the "present day" of the story Sydney had transitioned, but using proper pronouns didn't seem to matter to him too much.

I love that the narrative in this book moves forward sideways like a crab. We move through Jonathan's life, from childhood when he lived with Sid until adulthood when he rediscovers her in Sydney, as well as Sydney's life through stories and recollections. I love how Sid fights against India's white privilege. ( )

An amazing book by an Indian woman from Trinidad and Canada providing insights into the lives of transgendered individuals and those who love them.

Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab introduced me to the complex life of a person who was transgendered. For the first time I was able to understand at a visceral level how a person makes and lives with decisions about gender that I do not encounter in my own life. The book’s subject, and how well that subject is handled, make it an important and unique publication, especially for those of us living in limiting traditional communities.

This book however is much more than its treatment of sexual minorities. Appropriately, characters are much more than their sexuality. A variety of themes are interwoven: loss and re-connection, migration and cultural difference, inter-generational relations, secrecy and death. . The writing is graceful and compelling. The landscapes of Trinidad and Toronto, where the book is set, are lushly portrayed both in terms of their physicality and of the differences of the people who live in each. One of the main characters is part of the Indian community that has long been a part of Trinidad. Hindu life and ritual is described.

The plot is unusual and an excellent vehicle for the story. Jonathan grew up in Toronto, cared for primarily by his mother's partner. When the couple split, Jonathan's caregiver disappears, only to be rediscovered after Jonathan is a young man. Jonathan is intensely curious about the fact the person has changed gender, but holds back questions out of respect. Gradually Jonathan and the reader come to learn the full story.

Shani Mootoo was raised in the Indian Trinidad community and moved to Canada as a young adult. Initially she devoted herself to creating films and videos, some of them widely praised. She has claimed that her interest in visual storytelling seemed safer to her than words after she was punished for telling about the sexual abuse she received as a young child. In writing her novels she displays both her visual and verbal gifts. In addition to her work in film, she has published several books of short stories, poems, and fiction. Her writing often focuses on issues of migration and sexual diversity.
I strongly recommend this book to those interested in learning to appreciate those who are transgendered---and to anyone who is curious about people, or simply cares about excellence in writing. Akashic Books is to be congratulated for making available yet another excellent and important book. ( )

A compelling story well outlined by other reviewers before me. The search for one's lost parent and the gender issues combine to make a poignant story. It was confusing and perhaps unnecessary for Sid to not only be transgender, but also to have been the lesbian partner to Jonathan's biological mother during his early childhood. This was not well documented in the early chapters and not central to the story. ( )

A moving and thought provoking story about a man looking for his mother Sid, only to find that Sid is now Sydney, a man living in Trinidad. Sydney is dying and wants to tell Jonathan about his life. A nuanced meander through the life of someone who never felt comfortable in her own skin. ( )

I was initially intrigued by the wonderful title for this interesting novel. The synopsis would leave one thinking this is a story about transformation and discovery but ultimately it's a tale of love and acceptance.
Jonathan was raised by two mothers, Sid, who was loving, maternal and free spitied and India, wealthy, successful and ambitious. Sid and India part ways when Jonathan tuns 10, leaving him feeling abandoned and resentful. Years later, Jonathan is reconnected to Sid, now living in her native country of Trinidad, however Sid has become a male named Sydney.
With gorgeous prose and language we learn the journey Sid has undergone and along the way Jonathan comes to understand just how much he was cherished. ( )