We’re on our way to the IOW today to tuck our caravan up for the winter, and so I’ll answer any comments when I get home on Monday:

Today it’s the turn of Friday Review Share to support Indie authors.  Please leave a link in the comments to a review you’ve had on Amazon or Goodreads for one of your own books.  A link to the review and a description of the book would be great (or the review itself if you like), because let’s face it, if people are interested in the book they will certainly check it out!

If you haven’t yet had any reviews for your books, then you can leave a review you’ve written for an Indie book that you’ve read and enjoyed. 

I’ll start the ball rolling by sharing a great 5 star review by Beetleypete that I had this week for ‘His Ladyship‘, my new LGBT novel:

VINE VOICE 5.0 out of 5 stars A journey to gender transition

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 November 2021

Verified Purchase

This is the story of Norman, growing up feeling he is misgendered as part of a family where such things are neither tolerated, nor discussed. The family dynamic is established early on, with Norman being spoilt as the youngest, and having a difficult relationship with his older siblings. This becomes worse when he starts to openly question his sexual identitiy, which is met with a mixture of disappointment and scorn.

His reaction is to withdraw. He stops going to school, then never bothers to find a job. To the outrage of his brothers and sisters, he is mollycoddled by a widowed mother determined to do everything for him. And he lets her. Growing older, and becoming very fat, he spends all of his time in his bedroom, acting out his fantasy of being a woman. Wanting to become Norma, instead of Norman.

In this book we follow his journey to that transition, right up to date with the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. Despite some detailed medical information, there is nothing overtly sexual or salacious in this book.

From the start, Norman is very much an unsympathetic character. He is hard to like, selfish, uncaring, and shows little regard for his mother as she grows old, wearing herself out caring for him. When his siblings arrive to berate him for his behaviour, their mother defends him, and Norman locks himself away in his room, refusing to face any criticism.

Once he begins to cross-dress, to stick by his determination to be called Norma, and seek gender reassignment surgery, he has to deal with the lack of understanding from his confused mother, and outright hostility and humiliation from some family members. But that very determination changing Norman into Norma also alters his personality, making him kinder, and allowing him to break free of his room into the outside world.

The world he chooses to explore is the London LGBTQ scene, where he is startled to find acceptance, friendship, and eventually, a temporary job. From this point on, Norma begins to finally grow up, despite already being in her late fifties.

This is a story exploring one person’s difficult experience to be accepted for what she has always believed she was. Facing counselling, painful surgery, and long years of waiting.

I finished the book really liking Norma, and rooting for her to find peace and happiness.

See you all soon. x