Reading has been a key continuity in the flow of my life, a primary focus since I was a child enthusiastically bringing home armloads of library books each week.
Appetizer:
This is the first printed illustration of a rhombicuboctahedron, based on an original drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. It is in the book De Divina Proportione by geometer Luca Pacioli, which was created in 1509.
A captivating detective procedural set in a conservative county in a red state with a twist: the main character, Lt. Lauren Kelly, is a trans woman, providing me with insights into a life experience I know little about, which I appreciated.
Importantly, I trusted what I was reading as the author, Robyn Gigl, is a trans woman who is an attorney and advocate who has been honored by the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, the ACLU-NJ, and the NJ Pride Network for her work on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.
I've said this before, but why should it matter whether we are heterosexual cisgender males, as I am, or CIS females, or LGBTQIA+ individuals? In fact, I think we benefit from and should welcome the diversity amongst us.
From the author's note at the end of the book:
These are difficult times for transgender and nonbinary people. On his first day in office, the president of the United States issued a series of executive orders declaring his belief that trans people don't have the right to exist. That's not hyperbole—just his words and actions taken at face value. And he's not alone in this view. Governors and state legislatures in approximately twenty-seven states have passed laws banning or prohibiting trans people from certain fundamental rights—like receiving appropriate healthcare, using a bathroom, changing their identity documents, or participating in sports. Policies that everyone from the Supreme Court of the United States to major media outlets have found no fault with.
I will confess that, as a transgender woman, it's hard for me to fathom why rich and powerful people fear me and other trans people. We make up a tiny fraction of the population, and like every other human being inhabiting this planet, all we're trying to do is live our best lives possible without hurting or interfering with anyone else's right to do the same. Yet, for some reason, powerful people view folks like me as an existential threat.
I certainly don't have the power or prestige that those attacking my community have, but, as a novelist, I do have a voice. As Walter Mosley once said, "Every novel that's worth its salt is about something other than the story." In my case, the something else is an effort to educate people who aren't trans as to what it's like to be a transgender woman and, hopefully, to show them that we're just like everyone else—no better, no worse—just trying to find happiness in this mixed up, jumbled up world.
Admittedly, there are times when I feel like my words are powerless against the forces arrayed against my community. But then I remind myself that I'm not alone—there are all of you. No matter what lens you view life through—cis, trans, nonbinary, or none of the above—we all should remember that we don't need to understand those who are different from us; we just need to be understanding of them. Together, let's reclaim the virtues of understanding, kindness, and empathy toward our fellow humans and once again embrace those virtues as strengths, not weaknesses. If we do, love can conquer fear.
Related: From her website, RobynGigl.com⩘ , I learned that she also has written a series of other crime novels, the Erin McCabe series narrated by Marguerite Gavin, which has been well received. It begins with By Way of Sorrow, 2021. The series includes Survivor's Guilt, 2022, which was named by Time magazine as one of "The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time". It also won the Joseph Hansen Award for LGBTQ Crime Writing at the 2023 Triangle Awards for LGBT literature.
By Way of Sorrow: Kensington Books, 2021; audiobook: Recorded Books, 2021. Survivor's Guilt: Kensington Books, 2022; audiobook: Recorded Books, 2022. Printed books:Bookshop.org⩘ ; audiobooks:Libro.fm⩘ .
Well narrated by Jen Richards
