I became aware of the book through the Women’s prize for fiction longlist as it was hailed as the first-ever nominated book by a transgender author. Then it came back on my radar after the Wild Women Writing Club accused the prize of allowing a ‘male person’ to infiltrate it... I thought, wait a minute, I need to buy that book. It took a few weeks to arrive as many people shared the same thought – it was nice to find myself a part of a wider community.

I could not get my head around the plot as summed up in the various articles I read prior to opening the book and so I was intrigued to see whether I’d be, after all, able to grasp it. I blame the summaries as it makes perfect sense, even though, it is an exceptional story for someone who has been mainly surrounded by cis-gender people. It definitely exposed limitations of my knowledge and my experience. The story delves deep into the humanity, intricacies, challenges, struggles and victories of transgender people. The detail is rich, minute and generous – I felt like a guest invited to observe an intimate ritual with no holds barred.

The story is fascinating in its simplicity – three interconnected people both wanting a baby and at the same time petrified by the prospect. They come together, then apart, then, hopefully, together again through their personal differences, fears, prejudices and similarities. None of the characters seems to be able to fully understand any of the other two, often they fail to understand their own selves, which, paradoxically, brings them closer.

Reese, Katrina, Ames/Amy are wholesome and full-bodied characters. They were easy to identify with in their everyday situations. I liked and disliked them all equally. I did struggle with the structure of the story as I found it hard to keep up with the weeks and years going back and forwards. I also found some of the dialogue schematic and utilitarian, some questions felt like an invitation to a short discourse on a certain aspect of transgender community or motherhood. Sometimes the description of gestures left an awkward image in my mind: ‘Katrina reaches out and grabs Reese by the wrist, not at all gently. She pulls Reese’s hand, and fumbling, holds it in both of hers, against her chest.’

I would love for the story to carry on beyond the pregnancy (I am convinced the baby will be born) to see how the dynamics in this triad would continue and develop, bouncing and feeding off of each other.