This book takes an intimate look at a MTF transsexual's coming out/surgery and how this affects her relationship with her straight partner Allison, and by proxy Allison's family and the small town they live in. It's told from each character's PoV, alternating by chapter. Bohjalian really gets into the details of what the transition is like for all involved and that frankness is occasionally refreshing, although the single-mided focus on genitalia and Dana's surgery, as if it is the only thing in More...

If you're looking for an introduction to transgender issues, this may be a great book for you. I wasn't.

It seems apparent to me that the author thought the idea of a trans character was so intriguing that he would research the phenomenon and write a convincing book about the world of the transitioning MTF. I guess this is what authors do, and I can't fault his research -- as far as I know nothing he said in the book was inaccurate.

It was, however, bland, predictable, and ultimately implausible More...

I loved this book. Not only did it handle transgender and transexual issues well, it was a captivating story filled with emotion and

Alison Banks, a grade-school teacher in a Vermont town, meets and falls in love with a charming and amazing man, Dana. A few months into their romance Dana confesses to Alison that she actually identifies as (gay) female, has begun hormones, will soon be dressing and living as a woman, and will be having sexual reassignment surgery several months later, that Januar More...

I like Bohjalian's writing. This one is set in Vermont, with a side trip to Trinidad, CO. The subject matter is a male to female gender change and a family that is affected by it. I learned more than I wanted to know about the operation but it is interesting and I have more empathy for people who make that decision. Chris came to our book group and talked about his research for the book, which added new insights.

I’ve found so much to discuss from this book and so let me start with a general review so that I can make the remainder a huge spoiler alert....

This is the third Chris Bohjalian Book I’ve read and while I’ve enjoyed the other two, this one is my favourite. He’s taken a subject that is sensitive and controversial and wrote with frankness, plenty of well thought out perspective from many angles, and brought it to life for a reader (most likely thousands of readers) that has not known a single tran More...

I think what a lot of people forget is that when this book came out only sleazy talk show hosts we're talking about transgender and even then, it was only for shock factor. I found it refreshing to hear about the process happens and I have met the author and spoke at length about this extensive research to prepare. If you are active in the GLBT community, you might feel like you have heard this before, but not back in 2001 when it was published you didn't--a lot of acceptance has been acheived i More...

This was the first time I have read anything by this author - but I can assure you that it won't be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would compare the style of this author to that of Jodi Picoult - another one of my favourite authors.
This particular story is about a modern family - told through the eyes of it's four members: the ex-husband, the ex-wife, the ex- wife's new transsexual partner, and the ex's daughter.
Allison, and elementary school teacher, meets a professor - Mr. Dana More...

Here is one of those books that have reviews all over the place, from minus to plus five. Personally, I found the journey of a man becoming, what he feels inside, to a woman fascinating. This one had a twist with Allison, a teacher,falling in love with a young handsome professor who reciprocates the feelings tenfold. Both feeling they had found their soul mates..until Dana, the professor, confesses that is he undergoing gender transference and will shortly have the surgery to complete the proces More...

This is our current selection for book club and I just finished it over the weekend. I very much enjoyed reading it as it was a quick and easy read about a subject that up until now, I had never thought of. I knew it existed and that eventually in my life I would run into someone who is a transsexual, but truthfully, I had never given their struggle or their relationships a thought. I found the characters interesting and I came to care for them. The explanation of the surgery and recovery was th More...

The title suggests the subject: a man, Dana, who has felt like he was a woman all his life decides to get a sex change. Before he does, however, he meets and falls in love with a woman, Allison. And doesn't tell her about his leanings until she too has fallen for him. The story follows the couple as they try to cope with their relationship in a fishbowl of a small town in Vermont, where Allison teaches sixth grade. She encounters significant prejudice and pressure from townspeople to move or qui More...

NOT what I was expecting. But I kept picking it up at the library, on several different visits ... and one time there was nothing else to listen to (yes, I am a big fan of audio books, but I also love traditional books - so don't go getting all Gutenberg on my butt), so it came home. Little did I know I was about the enter the world transgender ...

I don't remember liking it all that much, but I listened to the whole thing. I figured it was like broccoli: good for me. I really hate "good for me" More...

Interesting book this one.
It’s the classic ‘girl meets boy, girl and boy fall in love, boy has sex-change throwing everyone’s idea of sexuality, gender and sexual orientation into a blender’ love story really.

Allison, ex-wife to Will, teacher in a small town, and mother to Carly meets Dana. University professional and all round really nice guy. Things are wonderful until Dana explains his hairlessness and occasional erectile dysfunction – female hormones will do that.

The story is told from the p More...

Bohjalian tried, he really really did. Over all, this was a decent book. For anyone seeking a better, safe understanding of gender and concerns of transgender individuals with a fairly interesting story line and likeable characters, it is a good choice. However, for those with an understanding of what trans* individuals face, it has several points of annoyance and often reeks of textbook cloaked in fiction.

A couple of examples that made me twitch any time I read their print:

1. the word "transge More...

My book club chose this one, and because I am fascinated by the whole transgender issue, I found it a worthy read. When a divorced 40-something year old teacher, Allison, falls for her college professor,(Dana, and finds out after the fact he is transitioning to a she,there are a lot of questions raised. Will Allison still love Dana after he becomes a woman, if not, why? If so, does this make her a lesbian?
Along the way of discovering what she wants, the town, the principal of her school, her d More...

a good read-- quick, engaging, and you get to learn more about transition from male to female, which is something i don't know much about. Bohjalian's writing, as usual, flows really well and keeps you engaged in the story, but this isn't his strongest piece of fiction--the plot tension pales in comparison to Midwives and The Double Bind.

I do like his exploration of people's feelings towards something like gay marriage or transsexuals, an almost NIMBY sensibility, that in general it's OK, but yo More...

I enjoyed that each character (Allison, Dana, Carly & Will) each had chapters to tell the story from their eyes & heart & soul!

This goes to show how some people can be so predjudce just becuase you are a Transexual, Gay or Bi-Sexual. Thinking that you can catch it or teach it. God Forbid they just accept it as normal, for that person and let it be each indiviuals personal choice!

Chris Bohjalian you touched my heart & soul when you wrote:

"Or walk with me a few generations into the More...

This was an interesting, sympathetic, insightful look at a "world" that I (and perhaps most people) knew very little about prior to picking the book up. The significant differences between people of different cultures, nationalities, religions, lifestyles, etc. only serve to shed light on how ultimately similar we homosapiens all are to each other, most especially in matters of the heart.

3 and a half stars.

Interesting idea, I'm sure inspired by real life. I saw a tv show about transgendered people once where they interviewed a couple that was once a man and woman married. The man was transgendered, yet his wife stayed with him even after he became a woman so they could raise their children together. However, the wife was not gay and they lived together as friends.

I thought this book might be going in the same direction based on the title because of the word sister. I thought may More...

While this book was enjoyable there was also something missing or something I couldn't quite put my finger on. I guess why the focus around the radio? I mean it is an interesting way to tell the story and it sets up the premise but the book wasn't so much about the radio as it was about the people in the story and how their lives came to be surrounded and intertwined with one transsexual's choice to have a sex change operation. I did enjoy the love story that ran subtle and not so subtle in the More...

Bohjalian has tried, but he doesn't know from the transsexual experience. This reads a lot the way old lesbian/gay novels did in the 70s and 80s, where the emotional focus (and sometimes the whole plot) was about coming out. While the trans protagonist goes beyond coming out here, the emotion of the story sticks there and can't really move on. This could work okay, but all of the narrators have interchangeable voices, language, and preoccupations. I would sometimes lose track of whose chapter it More...

Another winner from Chris Bohjalian. An incredible story of strength discovered and the difficulties of living with choices made once you've decided not to judge a book by it's cover - or in this case, gender. Through the eyes of four modern family members, Bohjalian relays the gender bending story to his readers as the books' fictitious corresponding NPR segments unfold. The word-nerd in me particularly enjoyed the author's subtle insights regarding the use of vocabulary.

"That was, in fact, the More...

An interesting way to tell a story about trans-gender issues and the mental and physical intensity of going through the change. A little to pigeon holed at times for me. I have a parent who is trans-gender and even though it felt like I was educating myself a little bit into that world and mind space I felt more and more that when talking of this issue nothing can be generalized. Each and every experience for the people going through the change and their families is so unique and different. You More...

I found this book by accident browsing through the shelves at the library. My librarian told me the author was similar to Jodi Picoult. Even though the two authors are very different, they both had me captivated, sitting on the edge of my seat, curious as to what the next turn in the plot would be.

Bohjalian writes about a very controversial topic, that I have seen no other author do before. He had a good combination of facts, and an emotional appeal that I haven't seen before. I felt very connec More...

I found it interesting how this story is told from four different perspectives. It allowed for a wide view of the story. Still, I found that there were scenes that wandered away from the central story that never really got tied into a theme at any point. I'm not really convinced that Carly's (the daughter's) perspective was really vital to the story. The points covered by her narrative could have been covered by the others.

The story itself was pleasant to read. It covered Dana's journey nicely, More...

This book had a profound effect on me, opening my eyes to so very much, and I passed that experience on the many other people who were just as captivated as I was. Bohjalian really researches his subjects and writes them with such intimacy that they stay with you for a good, long time.

First of all, take my review with a grain of salt. I didn't really go into the book wanting to read it. A friend gave it to me and said it's a good psychological read. I thought it sounded interesting, as it obviously pondered ideas surrounding transgender people.

I did like the way the book was structured and how it shifted points of view, but the ideas in the book were rather elementary. Everything related back to sex, basically the females of the story thought about sex 70% of the time they we More...

Imagine a woman falling in love with a man; the woman is told a few months into the relationship that the man is a woman on the inside. This is the story of Allison and Dana.

When Dana tells Allison he is in love with her and then shares that he is a transsexual and is in the process of having a sex change Allison must deal with her own personal emotions and the uproar of her community. Allison’s ex husband, Will, secretly wishes the relationship between Allison and Dana will work and when it do More...

This was the first Bohjalian I was able to complete and I enjoyed the story line as it was quirky enough to keep me interested. I liked the weaving of the lives of everyone involved and the multi-layered emotional content of all. I didn't care for some people which helped with the conflict of emotions and the layering.
The story is about a middle-aged teacher who meets a college professor and falls in love right before the professor has a sex change operation. The professor is sure of what he is More...

An account of a transsexual who has his/her gender reassigned, and the effect this has on her relationships and the community in which she lives. I suppose Bohjalian really believed he was doing a service to transsexuals by writing a sympathetic account of their experience, and maybe he would have been if it had been a better book. In fact, it's both plodding and prurient -- an amazing achievement! It's about genitals, not about the people who have, or change, those genitals. Bohjalian doesn't b More...