Author(s): Torrey Peters

Fiction | Marianne's Book Talkers

A uniquely trans take on love, motherhood, and those exes who you just can't quit. 

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? 

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021 

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

'A voraciously knowing, compulsively readable novel' - Chris Kraus 

'Tremendously funny and sexy as hell' - Juliet Jacques 

'So good I want to scream' - Carmen Maria Machado 

CONSTANT READER STAFF REVIEW: MARIANNE

What can I say about this perfect novel? That it was my favourite read of 2021? That my heart fills with warm joy every time that I remember it? That I wholeheartedly agree with the Vogue reviewer on the back who says they wish they could wipe their memory and have the pleasure of reading it for the first time all over again?

 All of the above!

 Torrey Peters combines the emotional cringes and crescendos of a classic rom com with a plot that feels truly high stakes, played out by richly drawn characters you might wish you knew in real life (sometimes I catch myself thinking, “I wonder what they’re doing now?”).

 It's raw, it’s funny, it’ll make you laugh out loud, shout “No, don’t do it!,” shiver with shared embarrassment, and wish with all your heart, “Please, please let this happen!”

 Pure delight.