The Other Women: A Story About Three Transsexuals

by Pamela Hayes

Lenore Cavanaugh is African-American, young and beautiful. Her dream is to have a sex change operation. Her family disapproves. Because of her yearning to be female, she lost friends and her romantic partner. Lenore decides to start afresh and relocates to a new community, where she makes new friends and even finds romance.Annabelle Morrison is a transsexual, who has had surgery. She lived most of her life as a straight man, a husband and father. In middle age, Annabelle became the woman she always wanted to be, but she paid a dear price for her freedom. She lost her family. Her colleagues became distant and apathetic.Jennifer Ann Hughes is a young transsexual, who has no desire to have surgery. She is quite happy having physical characteristics of a male and a female. Jennifer Ann is 'married' and is pretending to be a traditional homemaker. Her in-laws are in the dark about her true orientation. Will her shocking secret ever come out?The three women are the best of friends. They are family. They provide each other with much-needed emotional support.The Other Women is an exploration of the transsexual experience, delving into the heart and psyche of transsexual women, the rejection, the pain, the yearning. Enter the world of Lenore, Annabelle and Jennifer Ann. Get caught up in The Other Women.

Genres: Transgender

Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[rebel]

When I saw this at my local used bookstore, I snapped it up. Queer literature of any kind is exceedingly rare in these parts, let alone trans fiction by a trans author. So it pains me to have to give this such a low rating. The book reads like a first draft in desperate need of an editor. Grammatical errors and clunky writing hinder the flow. The heroine is self-centered, judgmental, and Mary Sue-ish (in that it is constantly mentioned how beautiful, smart, and cultured she is). She has no chemistry with the love interest, and the sex scenes are totally unsexy with ridiculous dialogue. I almost quit this book after the first chapter, in which the heroine privately refers to another woman as a "slut" for being transphobic. That tone continued throughout the book, with the heroine passing judgment on everyone and thinking she knows best what they should do in their situations. I felt for her gender struggles, but I wished she'd gain some sensitivity and self-reflection.