I Heard Her Call My Name: A memoir of transition

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A tender, funny and urgent memoir about the marvels and obstacles of transitioning in later life. 'Moving' THE NEW YORK TIMES 'A joy' THE WASHINGTON POST 'Vibrant' LIT HUB 'Powerful' NEW YORKER Lucy Sante has often felt like an outsider. Born in Belgium to conservative Catholic working-class parents, she was transplanted to the United States without ever entirely settling here. But a feeling of home finally arrived when she moved to New York City in the early 1970s amidst her fellow bohemians. Through those electric years, some of her friends would die young, from drugs and AIDS, and others would become jarringly famous. Lucy flirted with both fates, on her way to building a glittering career as a writer. But she could never shake that feeling. When she was finally ready, Lucy decided to confront the fa ade she'd been presenting to everyone, including herself, over these years. I Heard Her Call My Name is the story of that confrontation, of a life with a missing piece that with transition, falls into place. This a memoir of grace and wit that parses the issues of gender identity and far beyond with unbounding humility and hope. 'Radical, humble and wise' HERMIONE HOBY 'An astonishing, once-in-a-lifetime achievement' HUA HSU 'Vivid, encompassing and compassionate' CATHERINE LACEY

Reviews

Moving . . . powerful . . . Her sharpness and sanity, moodiness and skepticism are the appeal. * The New York Times *
Reading this book is a joy . . . funny and warm * The Washington Post *
Not to be missed, I Heard Her Call My Name is a powerful example of self-reflection and a vibrant exploration of the modern dynamics of gender and identity * Lit Hub *
Marked by clarity and self-awareness . . . powerful * New Yorker *
An astonishing, once-in-a-lifetime achievement, as two stories thread into one, from losing yourself in the lights, the sounds, the eyes of others, to the miraculous discovery of the language with which you can put yourself back together -- Hua Hsu, author of Stay True
Radical, humble, and wise, Santes account of discovery is the most generous of gifts a book to treasure, and a memoir that will enter the canon of twenty-first-century greats -- Hermione Hoby, author of Virtue
I've admired the utter clarity and authority of Lucy Sante's work for years, and I was deeply moved by how she tunneled through the specificity of her experiences to create this vivid, encompassing, and compassionate book -- Catherine Lacey, author of Biography of X
A generous, fearlessly revealing book, full of heart. Lucy Sante brings a reader through her transition, a story that moves across continents, time, and discovery. It is revitalising. Santes dedication to truth asks beautifully honest questions: Who deserves to be a woman What do we contain What is it to live, survive, to thrive This celebration of womanhood is fresh air you will want to breathe in deeply -- Samantha Hunt, author of The Unwritten Book and The Seas
Rueful and wise on the strictures and pretence of masculinity . . . a writer of rich cultural retrospect. * Irish Times *
An absorbing analysis of a long-standing search for identity in writing and life * Kirkus *

Author Bio

Lucy Sante is the author of Low Life, Evidence, The Factory of Facts, Kill All Your Darlings, Folk Photography, The Other Paris, Maybe the People Would Be the Times, and Nineteen Reservoirs. Her awards include a Whiting Writers Award, an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Grammy (for album notes), an Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography, and Guggenheim and Cullman fellowships. She recently retired after 24 years teaching at Bard College.