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Earth as It Is
It’s the 1930s in Texas when Charlie Bader comes of age with urges he has struggled with since childhood and does not understand. After his new bride finds him wearing her own sexy lingerie and leaves him in disgust, he tries to move on. His efforts lead him to Chicago, where he stumbles on a community of cross-dressers and begins to attend their secret soirees. When Pearl Harbor is bombed, he volunteers for the army, serving as a dentist and trying once again to leave his obsession with soft clothes behind. Instead, his wartime experiences combined with the army's faulty record-keeping lead to his reappearance in the small town of Heaven, Indiana, as Charlene. There, Charlene opens a beauty shop where Heaven’s women safely share their stories and secrets as she shampoos, clips, curls, and combs their hair. Charlene deftly manages to keep her own story hidden and her sexual desires quiet until she falls in love with a female customer and her life begins to change.
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2017
14 people are currently reading
445 people want to read
About the author
Jan Maher
13 books17 followers
Jan C. Maher
(b. 1946) is an American writer and educational consultant. She has written numerous plays and books including Most Dangerous Women (2006, 2015, 2017) and two novels, Heaven, Indiana (2000) and Earth As It Is (2017). She is a featured contributor in the fiction anthology A Contract of Words, and has several short stories and poems in online and print journals including Meat for Tea: The Valley Review and Straw Dog Poetry Anthology: Compass Roads: A dispatch from Paradise/Poems about the Pioneer Valley .
Her first collection of short stories, The Persistence of Memory and Other Stories, will be released on Feb. 19, 2020.
She attended Shimer College, and earned degrees from The New School, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, and The Union Institute and University. She is co-founder and director of Local Access, a non-profit organization whose mission is to create educational opportunities in and through the arts, and is a senior scholar at the Institute for Ethics in Public Life, State University of New York at Plattsburgh.
She lives in Greenfield, MA.
Her first collection of short stories, The Persistence of Memory and Other Stories, will be released on Feb. 19, 2020.
She attended Shimer College, and earned degrees from The New School, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, and The Union Institute and University. She is co-founder and director of Local Access, a non-profit organization whose mission is to create educational opportunities in and through the arts, and is a senior scholar at the Institute for Ethics in Public Life, State University of New York at Plattsburgh.
She lives in Greenfield, MA.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 19, 2017
I don’t seem to be able to keep up with the ever expanding initials that have been added to LGBTQ, but I have just read a book that suggests an additional category. That of cross-dresser, formerly referred to as “transvestite,” I think. I was aware that there were people who liked to dress, upon occasion, in the accustomed clothes of the sex they were not – usually males dressing as females, but that was about the extent of my knowledge. I’m not sure how much more I know after reading Jan Maher’s novel. The Study Guide Questions at the end of the book ask, among other things, “What familiar worlds were made unfamiliar to you in this novel? What unfamiliar worlds were made familiar?”
I wouldn’t answer that the unfamiliar world of the cross-dresser was made familiar to me, but I’d say made me more accepting of it. And that’s something.
Most of the story in Maher’s novel takes place in the 1950s through the mid-1960s in the big city of Chicago and the small town of Heaven, Indiana, the latter being a fictional town. There are other locations, such as Texas where the protagonist was born and the theatre of WW II where he served. A cross-dresser before the war, he enlisted in an attempt to give up his “softer” side but returned from the war deciding to live full-time cross-dressing as a female (but not as a transgender or transsexual). He (Charlie) no longer wanted anything to do with the macho culture of war.
The remainder of the story tells about Charlene’s aka Charlie’s attempt to live as a woman, a woman hairdresser in the small, conservative town of Heaven, Indiana during the 1950s+. As a hairdresser, Charlene hears everyone’s stories and keeps everyone’s confidence. She has her own secret, however. Her clients become her friends – some closer than others – and Maher depicts them to be what our stereotypes of small town folks in the mid-west were like, especially in the 1950s. They’re not especially interesting or endearing. They are pretty much stereotypes. I really didn’t get attached to any of them, although of course I wished more for Charlene than what she was able to get.
From what I’ve scanned of other people’s opinions of this book, most liked it more than I did. I didn’t think it was that well written. The author is fluid but is not able to depict her characters in much depth. I think of Elizabeth Strout, who also writes of the narrowness of small town life and small town characters and of their foibles and of their surprising ability, on occasion, to rise above their narrowness in acts of empathy and charity. Of course this author is not Elizabeth Strout so maybe it’s unfair to judge this novelist by those standards. But I wish an author more skilled in characterization (and wit) had told this story.
I do like the
I wouldn’t answer that the unfamiliar world of the cross-dresser was made familiar to me, but I’d say made me more accepting of it. And that’s something.
Most of the story in Maher’s novel takes place in the 1950s through the mid-1960s in the big city of Chicago and the small town of Heaven, Indiana, the latter being a fictional town. There are other locations, such as Texas where the protagonist was born and the theatre of WW II where he served. A cross-dresser before the war, he enlisted in an attempt to give up his “softer” side but returned from the war deciding to live full-time cross-dressing as a female (but not as a transgender or transsexual). He (Charlie) no longer wanted anything to do with the macho culture of war.
The remainder of the story tells about Charlene’s aka Charlie’s attempt to live as a woman, a woman hairdresser in the small, conservative town of Heaven, Indiana during the 1950s+. As a hairdresser, Charlene hears everyone’s stories and keeps everyone’s confidence. She has her own secret, however. Her clients become her friends – some closer than others – and Maher depicts them to be what our stereotypes of small town folks in the mid-west were like, especially in the 1950s. They’re not especially interesting or endearing. They are pretty much stereotypes. I really didn’t get attached to any of them, although of course I wished more for Charlene than what she was able to get.
From what I’ve scanned of other people’s opinions of this book, most liked it more than I did. I didn’t think it was that well written. The author is fluid but is not able to depict her characters in much depth. I think of Elizabeth Strout, who also writes of the narrowness of small town life and small town characters and of their foibles and of their surprising ability, on occasion, to rise above their narrowness in acts of empathy and charity. Of course this author is not Elizabeth Strout so maybe it’s unfair to judge this novelist by those standards. But I wish an author more skilled in characterization (and wit) had told this story.
I do like the
October 10, 2017
I just finished the book.
Wow.
Here's all I'll say.
I'm an avid reader, historically.
Like fly through a few books a week and I LOVE to read.
I haven't read much since my last pregnancy. I couldn't/can't focus. There are too many other things to do?
And I haven't found many books that I don't want to put down (so are more appealing to read than my to-do list).
This was one of those books. The only other one was Peggy Orensteins "Girls and Sex".
And I didn't expect to be wowed or that I would be interested. So I think that speaks to the compelling writing.
Wow.
Here's all I'll say.
I'm an avid reader, historically.
Like fly through a few books a week and I LOVE to read.
I haven't read much since my last pregnancy. I couldn't/can't focus. There are too many other things to do?
And I haven't found many books that I don't want to put down (so are more appealing to read than my to-do list).
This was one of those books. The only other one was Peggy Orensteins "Girls and Sex".
And I didn't expect to be wowed or that I would be interested. So I think that speaks to the compelling writing.
May 7, 2019
This book was beautifully written. The author was able to make me happy and sad at the same time.
June 17, 2017
With Earth As It Is, Jan Maher returns to Heaven, Indiana, a fictional town, peopled by a cast of lively characters, that welcomes the reader with open arms. Yet it is anything but idyllic. This is an immersive read - you'll want to stay in Heaven longer than the novel's two-hundred-odd pages. But it is also provocative, dealing with themes such as identity, taboo, and the conflict between self and society. The book concerns Charlie Bader, whose journey of self-discovery, namely an exploration into his desire to dress like a woman, is interrupted by World War II, and the trauma he experiences on the battlefield prompts him to move to a small Indiana town, Heaven, as Charlene, permanently guarding this secret identity. But Charlie - or Charlene - is not the only citizen with a secret, and the beauty salon she has opened quickly becomes the stage upon which the town's greatest traumas and tragedies play out, making Charlene one of Heaven's most trusted and beloved figures. Maher proves adept at juggling the many storylines, building a tight and fleet-of-foot structure which brilliantly juxtaposes small-town isolation with historical landmarks. Thus Charlie/Charlene's struggle mirrors America's own identity crisis, as it passes through those pivotal decades of the 1950s and 60s. What better setting than a small, conservative Midwestern town to bring such issues into relief? (And as a Midwesterner myself, though not one who was alive during this period, I can say the portrayal feels authentic.) Yet the book manages to be both nostalgic and decidedly modern - perhaps because the social issues it addresses remain (sadly) urgent questions in our own time. A thoroughly enjoyable, intimate imaginative novel with characters who feel just so familiar, despite, or perhaps because of, their flaws.
November 26, 2017
“This was the burden Charlie Bader was unable to lay down: his need for softness.” In one quiet sentence, Jan Maher captures the heart of Earth As It Is, a richly layered novel about one person’s journey across time, place, and gender to find softness, community, and love.
In the hands of a lesser writer, a novel about a cross-dressing man living as a woman could become shallow and sensationalist, but not in Maher’s. Maher’s understanding and empathy for the honest complexity of individuals is a gift both to her characters and her readers, and surely a consideration behind The Great Midwest Book Festival’s decision to award Earth As It Is with its 2017 grand prize.
Maher constructs her novel in such a way so that when Charlie Bader moves to Heaven, Indiana, as Charlene, the new hairdresser in town, readers know Charlie’s history but Heaven’s residents do not. To them, Charlene is just Charlene, the hairdresser who shampoos, cuts, and perms the hair of the women of Heaven, even as she hears and holds in confidence their stories and secrets. Charlene is a woman to be trusted, and so they do, to the benefit of the whole community.
Earth As It Is reminds readers that Earth truly is as it is, woven through with heartache, longing, secrets, love, sacred trust, softness, and a desire to be in every moment one’s best and truest self.
In the hands of a lesser writer, a novel about a cross-dressing man living as a woman could become shallow and sensationalist, but not in Maher’s. Maher’s understanding and empathy for the honest complexity of individuals is a gift both to her characters and her readers, and surely a consideration behind The Great Midwest Book Festival’s decision to award Earth As It Is with its 2017 grand prize.
Maher constructs her novel in such a way so that when Charlie Bader moves to Heaven, Indiana, as Charlene, the new hairdresser in town, readers know Charlie’s history but Heaven’s residents do not. To them, Charlene is just Charlene, the hairdresser who shampoos, cuts, and perms the hair of the women of Heaven, even as she hears and holds in confidence their stories and secrets. Charlene is a woman to be trusted, and so they do, to the benefit of the whole community.
Earth As It Is reminds readers that Earth truly is as it is, woven through with heartache, longing, secrets, love, sacred trust, softness, and a desire to be in every moment one’s best and truest self.
April 20, 2017
Set in the 1930’s, the story is about Charlie, a heterosexual cross-dresser. I was quickly drawn into Charlie’s early struggles to understand his desire to dress in women’s clothes - hardly acceptable in small-town Texas society - and his transformation into Charlene, owner and operator of the beauty parlor in Heaven, Indiana. The pleasure of this novel comes both from the author’s strong, understated prose and the main character’s innate goodness in the face of an impossible situation.
June 15, 2017
This surprising and wonderful novel connects us to its full cast of characters and to each other. While it takes place in a small, fictional town in Indiana, and while its main character is a cross dressing heterosexual man, it somehow manages to be about all of us, and the ways we connect with ourselves and each other. It is a remarkable book that is gentle, perceptive, and honest about who we are and how we live our lives.
March 15, 2018
It is hard to describe this book! It is amazing with all the details the author writes to describe her characters and their lives in a small town setting! I really enjoyed reading her way of writing and the stories of the town. I still keep thinking of them now!! A great read!
March 12, 2017
Beautifully written, compelling book. I fell in love with the characters. Well done!
July 31, 2017
page turner--
old school trans mid-century, M presenting as F
one of the surprise excellent reads of 2017
old school trans mid-century, M presenting as F
one of the surprise excellent reads of 2017
April 19, 2020
This is a lovely, old-fashioned tale about living and dying with big secrets in a small town. Our main character, Charlie/ Charlene moves from small-town Texas to big-city Chicago to enlisting in the army after Pearl Harbor to living as a woman in Heaven, Indiana. Despite all of these moves, the pacing was slow, as ordinary conversations had to stand in for exchanges of deep meaning, but the slowness was part of the plot. I am glad to have read this and glad our thinking on cross dressers continues to evolve.
Also, and this is really an aside, but the character I most felt for was Charlie's little sister, who died alone in a nursing home, rusting and becoming increasingly immobilized. I didn't understand why Charlie didn't keep her nearer to him.
Also, and this is really an aside, but the character I most felt for was Charlie's little sister, who died alone in a nursing home, rusting and becoming increasingly immobilized. I didn't understand why Charlie didn't keep her nearer to him.
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June 30, 2020n 1930s Texas, Charlie Bader has a passion for cross-dressing, and is eventually caught wearing lingerie by his wife, who leaves him. When World War II comes around, Charlie volunteers for the U.S. Army, and after the war settles in Heaven, Indiana. Only this time, due to a mistake in military record-keeping, Charlie is able to become Charlene, and settles into a new identity as a transwoman. Things get particularly complicated when Charlene falls in love with a woman who is a regular customer at the beauty shop in which she works.
May 22, 2021
A story of a life lived, a saga of epic proportions transversing across continents from a small town in Texas to Chicago and the Full Service Sisters to France and Belgium during WW2 and ending in Heaven, Indiana. Spanning from 1933 to 1964, we meet the women of Heaven and the men in their lives all from the comfort of the town's beauty salon.
Well written and told with grace and heart, we, as the reader, are given a rare look into the life and love of Charles/Charlene for Millie and the women in his life.
A truly rare and heartwarming tale.
Well written and told with grace and heart, we, as the reader, are given a rare look into the life and love of Charles/Charlene for Millie and the women in his life.
A truly rare and heartwarming tale.
September 17, 2023
Smart and funny and compelling, an inventive and emotionally satisfying book.
December 15, 2023
So I can't finish thew book because I waited too long when I took it out of the library, but its really interesting especially because this man cross dresses in an era where its not looked on kindly. its interesting to see how he/she blends in and the fear at being discovered and trying to find love and being a dentist in ww2 but not being able to stop the urge to cross dress when he//she got back home./ I wish I could read the whole thing but thats probably not gonna happen.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews