Catalina: A True Story

German writer Orths's recounting of the miraculous and ribald life of the 17th-century Basque transvestite Catalina D'Erauso proceeds with all the manic, guileful momentum of a classic picaresque. Raised primarily by her brother, Miguel, until the age of eight, Catalina's life is thrown into tumult when Miguel leaves for South America to take over the family's New World mining business. Catalina joins a convent and at the age of 16 escapes to pursue her brother, assuming the identity of a man, Francisco Loyola, to freely make her way in the world. Accompanied by the handsome Juan Bautista de Arteaga, a doctor she meets early in her adventure, Catalina, growing ever more comfortable living as a man, eventually tracks down her brother, but their reunion is far from the joyful occasion she once had hoped for. The author's and translator's enthusiasm for the material keeps nick-of-time escapes from becoming plot cheats, while tongue-in-cheek narration and action-packed episodes (Catalina has turns as a thief, soldier and cuckolder) feed the reader's urge to root for Catalina-as-Francisco. (Oct.)