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A review by karnaconverse
She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan
"Love will prevail." -Jennifer's mother
I don't always give ratings to memoirs—who am I to judge/rate ANY individual's personal story?--but I believe I have to contribute to the rating system when a memoir educates (in other words, makes me feel that I've learned and grown) as much as it marks one's specific journey. And that's what Boylan's memoir, originally published in 2003, does. With a patient, thoughtful narrative of what it means, and how it feels, to be transsexual. Of particular note is the support (or not) she describes about her friends and family. This edition, published in 2013, includes three additional ending chapters: one written by Jennifer; one written by Jennifer's friend, and fellow writer and Colby College professor Richard Russo; and one written by her wife, "Grace." Each offer an intimate look into what it meant—and how it felt—to walk with Jennifer during the years she transitioned.
2024 Des Moines Library Challenge: Read something you wouldn't normally pick up. (And: picked this book up after reading "Mad Honey," the book she wrote with Jodi Picoult in 2022.)
I don't always give ratings to memoirs—who am I to judge/rate ANY individual's personal story?--but I believe I have to contribute to the rating system when a memoir educates (in other words, makes me feel that I've learned and grown) as much as it marks one's specific journey. And that's what Boylan's memoir, originally published in 2003, does. With a patient, thoughtful narrative of what it means, and how it feels, to be transsexual. Of particular note is the support (or not) she describes about her friends and family. This edition, published in 2013, includes three additional ending chapters: one written by Jennifer; one written by Jennifer's friend, and fellow writer and Colby College professor Richard Russo; and one written by her wife, "Grace." Each offer an intimate look into what it meant—and how it felt—to walk with Jennifer during the years she transitioned.
2024 Des Moines Library Challenge: Read something you wouldn't normally pick up. (And: picked this book up after reading "Mad Honey," the book she wrote with Jodi Picoult in 2022.)