Marked by<b> clarity and self-awareness </b>. . . <b>powerful</b>

New Yorker

<b>An astonishing, once-in-a-lifetime achievement</b>, as two stories thread into one, from losing yourself in the lights, the sounds, the eyes of others, to the miraculous discovery of the language with which you can put yourself back together

- Hua Hsu, author of Stay True,

<b>Radical, humble, and wise, </b>Sante’s account of discovery is the most generous of gifts — a book to treasure, and<b> a memoir that will enter the canon of twenty-first-century greats</b>

- Hermione Hoby, author of Virtue,

I've admired the utter clarity and authority of Lucy Sante's work for years, and I was deeply moved by how she tunneled through the specificity of her experiences to create this <b>vivid, encompassing, and compassionate book</b>

- Catherine Lacey, author of Biography of X,

<b>A generous, fearlessly revealing book, full of heart.</b> Lucy Sante brings a reader through her transition, a story that moves across continents, time, and discovery. It is revitalising. Sante’s dedication to truth asks beautifully honest questions: Who deserves to be a woman? What do we contain? What is it to live, survive, to thrive? <b>This celebration of womanhood is fresh air you will want to breathe in deeply</b>

- Samantha Hunt, author of The Unwritten Book and The Seas,

<b>Rueful and wise</b> on the strictures and pretence of masculinity . . . a writer of <b>rich cultural retrospect.</b>

Irish Times

An <b>absorbing </b>analysis of a long-standing search for identity in writing and life

Kirkus