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Arden by G D Harper #Review

  We start 2025 by visiting the sixteenth century and meeting two remarkable people from the time, one of whom happens to be William Shakespeare. Arden by G D Harper was published on October 1st by Ginger Cat .   The astonishing untold story of Shakespeare's first play Alice Arden, idealistic and wealthy beauty, burnt at the stake for killing her husband, the former mayor of Faversham in Kent. But was she really the one responsible for the most scandalous murder of the sixteenth century? William Shakespeare, Englandā€™s greatest playwright, born thirteen years after Aliceā€™s execution. Why does his first-ever play, written about this murder, not bear his name? This is a story of two people ā€“ one reviled, one revered ā€“ whose fates become linked in a tale of corruption, collusion and conspiracy. Based on historical documents and recently published academic research, Arden unveils shocking new evidence about the murder of Thomas Arden and reveals, for the first time...

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters #CheltenhamLiteraryFestival #Review

 

 

I am thrilled to be taking part in the celebrations for the Cheltenham Literary Festival which is running from October 4-17.This International Festival is showcasing a wide variety of genres and the programme spans history, food, travel, poetry and spoken word, art, sport, faith, philosophy, fashion, psychology, science, nature, business and much more. You can find more information about the festival here.

I am lucky to have received a copy of Torrey Peters' Detransition, Baby which has been longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021. Torrey Peters is appearing alongside Elizabeth Day at the Festival on Saturday 9th October at 8.30pm. Their session is called Detransition, Divorce And Starting Anew: Torrey will be talking via live link from the US to Elizabeth Day,and they will discuss divorce, de-transition and the pains and pleasures of reinventing yourself.

'Irresistible ... Detransition, Baby is the first great trans realist novel' Grace Lavery, Guardian

 Reese nearly had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York, a job she didn't hate. She'd scraped together a life previous generations of trans women could only dream of; the only thing missing was a child. Then everything fell apart and three years on Reese is still in self-destruct mode, avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.

When her ex calls to ask if she wants to be a mother, Reese finds herself intrigued. After being attacked in the street, Amy de-transitioned to become Ames, changed jobs and, thinking he was infertile, started an affair with his boss Katrina. Now Katrina's pregnant. Could the three of them form an unconventional family - and raise the baby together?

My Thoughts


 
As I read this book with its focus on three women, trans and cis, I was struck at how they seemed to be continually reassessing their self -identity and re-evaluating how they fitted into the world they found themselves in. I thought that particularly Reece seemed to alter herself according to who she was with and at times wanted nothing more than to be not noticed- at other times, she seemed to want the opposite! Starting over again and re-inventing yourself after trauma runs through the book. The author dedicates the book to divorced women and draws a parallel between the experience of trans women and those going through divorce as they have to start again, putting the past aside.

    Motherhood dominates the book with different views shown by the characters. What makes a family and how co-parenting can work are ideas which are looked at by the different women. You feel the pain of the characters, especially Reece, as she agonises over her desire to be a parent. This is a raw look at three women's lives with some violence and trauma which shows how some people cannot face up to how their behaviour will affect others.

About the Author

Torrey Peters is the author of the novel Detransition, Baby, published by One World/Random House, which was longlisted for the Womenā€™s Prize for Fiction. She is also the authors of the novellas Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones and The Masker. She has an MFA from the University of Iowa and a Masters in Comparative Literature from Dartmouth. Torrey rides a pink motorcycle and splits her time between Brooklyn and an off-grid cabin in Vermont.


You can follow Torrey here: Website  |  Twitter 

Book link: Amazon UK

 Thanks to Torrey Peters and Sofia Saghir of midaspr for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.

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