Detransition, Baby

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021
WINNER OF THE PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2022

Shortlisted for the 2022 National Book Critics' Circle John Leonard Prize for best first book

As heard on BBC Radio 4's Front Row
February 2021 Book of the Month for Roxane Gay's Book Club
Selected for The New York Times Notable Books of 2021 and The Times Best Books of 2021

'Irresistible ... Detransition, Baby is the first great trans realist novel' Grace Lavery, Guardian
'A voraciously knowing, compulsively readable novel' Chris Kraus
'Tremendously funny and sexy as hell' Juliet Jacques


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?