Detransition, Baby

A Novel

By: Torrey Peters

Narrated by: Renata Friedman

Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The lives of three women—transgender and cisgender—collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires in “one of the most celebrated novels of the year” (Time)

“Reading this novel is like holding a live wire in your hand.”—Vulture

Named one of the Best Books of the Year by more than twenty publications, including The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Time, Vogue, Esquire, Vulture, and Autostraddle

PEN/Hemingway Award Winner • Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Gotham Book Prize • Longlisted for The Women’s Prize • Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club Pick • New York Times Editors’ Choice

Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.

Ames isn't happy either. He thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese—and losing her meant losing his only family. Even though their romance is over, he longs to find a way back to her. When Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she's pregnant with his baby—and that she's not sure whether she wants to keep it—Ames wonders if this is the chance he's been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family—and raise the baby together?

This provocative debut is about what happens at the emotional, messy, vulnerable corners of womanhood that platitudes and good intentions can't reach. Torrey Peters brilliantly and fearlessly navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships, gifting us a thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel.

©2021 Torrey Peters (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Detransition, Baby is so good I want to scream.” (Carmen Maria Machado)

“This book is exhilaratingly good.” (Jia Tolentino)

“An unforgettable portrait of three women, trans and cis, who wrestle with questions of motherhood and family making. ... Detransition, Baby might destroy your book club, but in a good way.” (Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl)

Innovative trans narrative, sans transsexual spectacle

This was such a breath of fresh air - the characters felt real to the Brooklyn queer scene and also, to my actual friends. Peters really highlighted complicated topics, feelings of worth, HIV stigma and social scene dynamics in accessible ways. Every character feels like a composite of someone I know or miss, I teared up at the nostalgia. My only request would have been for the author to read the Audible version.

Loved this book!

This book was beautifully written and gave me so much perspective. I really thought about things I’d never thought of before, and I grew so attached to the characters and the story. The audiobook performance was also stellar! Would recommend.

Laugh out loud deep reflection

I want to have drinks with Torrey Peters. The observations and language are spot-on. This book made me reflect in fresh ways on womanhood, gender, motherhood, relationships, men, politics, gay friends, and my own history when I wasn’t just laughing and getting wrapped up in the characters. There are a couple of gaps in the story for me —- would Katrina really be so quick to consider this? and especially with Reese more due to her than her transness — but I was willing to accept it for the power of the whole. Excited to read more from Peters.

RUN TO and WITH THIS BOOK

Torrey Peters brings us beyond the horizon back to the very center of our desire for what it is that is beyond yet rooted (and damp) within us. Total brilliance. Get it - rate it high and take yourself on a (brave and familiar) ride. It is fun and funny, right where it hurts. Loved this!

Too much

I found the sex details took away from a good story. Lost interest quickly, then went back to continue and found it boring.

Interesting exploration of gender, clunky construction

What most captivated me about this book was its exploration of gender identity, ultimately making me wonder about what it means to be a woman. I have read about the constraints of heteronormativity, but exploring it through these characters made it clearer to me. Unfortunately, the plot lost me at times, perhaps due to the flat narration. When my mind wanders, when I’m not fully engrossed, I tend to think the pacing is off. The digressions into the past weren’t always necessary, though they revealed more about the characters. And I’m not the sort of person that requires full closure all the time, but the ending is too abrupt.

A good book that gets you thinking

I loved this book. It gave me perspective on some things I’d not considered before and had me thinking about my own womanhood and what it means. It was a beautiful story, I enjoyed every minute of it, even the hard parts.

My one note on the narration is that it was occasionally confusing when Reece and Katrina (spelling?) were talking to each other because their character voices were very similar, but it only really stood out to me in one scene.

I loved this book

An amazing and authentic portrayal of a queer and trans experience. A compelling story and characters. An excellent narration. Loved this book!

Complex, wryly funny, and self-aware

I really enjoyed this story. The characters feel real, with complex and sometimes unpleasant internal worlds and selfish motivations. But somehow, the author manages to make each of them relatable and human in their own struggle and occasional hypocrisy. There is a deep theme of introspecting about the queer experience, and how you feel about that probably depends on how interesting you find that topic. I think it's handled well and I was invested in understanding each character's journey.

trans or cis this is a deeply resonant story

as a recently out transfem who found herself, after years of struggle, this is a deeply, emotionally resonant story, but contrary to how i feel a lot of media has portrayed it it's very particular to certain subset of trans narratives. i found the first two chapters a bit rough and outside my experience and desires as ive found them, but once the story finds itself i was alternately laughing and crying along with reese, amy/ames, and katrina. whoever you are, and wherever you come from, i recommend this story as a deeply, emotionally resonant tale of individual humanity as it struggles to become familial, and hopefully that's a story everyone can relate to at some level.