When Tom meets Ming at a drag night at a bar near their university, both men are mutually attracted to one another. Tom, only recently out, is attracted to how together Ming seems, how serene, how confident in his future as a playwright and his sexuality. It’s not long before the two become inseparable.
As their relationship deepens, Tom realizes that Ming not only struggles with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but he seems increasingly dissatisfied with his body and appearance for reasons he cannot explain to Tom. After graduation, the couple moves to London, but no matter how they try to settle into their future together, the tension between them starts to intensify.
And then Ming tells Tom he intends to transition and become a woman.
The second half of the book follows Ming and Tom’s lives after Ming’s transition. Not only does this affect their relationship but their circle of mutual friends, and each confronts their own professional and personal issues. What happens after someone transitions? Can this individual who is finally living authentically find peace and satisfaction? And what parts of our lives should be open to public consumption?
This was a tremendously interesting premise. It was thought-provoking, emotional, funny, and insightful. Not much really happens in the book: it’s definitely character- and dialogue-driven, and it reminded me of a Sally Rooney novel. (That could be a positive or negative comparison depending on your opinions of her books.)
In the end, I just wish I enjoyed the characters more, so I could have been fully invested in the story.
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