I Heard Her Call My Name

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2024<BR><BR>'A joy' THE WASHINGTON POST<BR><BR>'Vibrant' LIT HUB<BR><BR>'Moving' THE NEW YORK TIMES<BR><BR>'Powerful' NEW YORKER<BR><BR>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.<BR><BR>When she was finally ready, Lucy decided to confront the façade 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.<BR><BR>'Radical, humble and wise' HERMIONE HOBY<BR><BR>'An astonishing, once-in-a-lifetime achievement' HUA HSU<BR><BR>'Vivid, encompassing and compassionate' CATHERINE LACEY

FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE <BR><BR>Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Slate<BR><BR>“Reading this book is a joy . . . much to say about the trans journey and will undoubtedly become a standard for those in need of guidance. ” —The Washington Post<BR><BR>“Sante’s bold devotion to complexity and clarity makes this an exemplary memoir. It is a clarion call to live one’s most authentic life.” —The Boston Globe<BR><BR>“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’s Most Anticipated Books of 2024<BR><BR>An iconic writer’s lapidary memoir of a life spent pursuing a dream of artistic truth while evading the truth of her own gender identity until, finally, she turned to face who she really was<BR><BR>For a long time, Lucy Sante felt unsure of her place. Born in Belgium, the only child of conservative working-class Catholic parents who transplanted their little family to the United States, she felt at home only when she moved to New York City in the early 1970s and found her people among a band of fellow bohemians. Some would die young, from drugs and AIDS, and some would become jarringly famous. Sante flirted with both fates on her way to building an estimable career as a writer. But she still felt like her life was a performance. She was presenting a facade, even to herself.<BR><BR>Sante’s memoir braids together two threads of personal narrative: the arc of her life, and her recent step-by-step transition to a place of inner and outer alignment. Sante brings a loving irony to her account of her unsteady first steps; there was much she found she still needed to learn about being a woman after some sixty years cloaked in a man’s identity, in a man’s world. A marvel of grace and empathy, I Heard Her Call My Name parses with great sensitivity many issues that touch our lives deeply, of gender identity and far beyond.