Set in a working-class district of Madrid, this is a bruised and raw tale of Alex, a young trans woman navigating her identity, and the community who both damage and save her. Although harrowingly violent in places, there are many moments of breath-taking tenderness. Wryly funny, with astonishing depths of humanity and a neighbourhood of vividly drawn characters, this read is both a hugely entertaining and deeply authentic emotional experience.
At some point, Eugenia got so used to having me around that she even asked me to do up her ponytail. I felt like an altar girl for the Virgin of Macarena; it was a big deal to do Carmel's hair - her boots were her ruling scepter and her ponytail, her crown. Once she let me touch her hair, I knew that I had earned her trust forever .... Brushing out the queen of the trannies was an act of reverence and love. I imagined a past in which my mother braided my hair or brushed it back into a ponytail. It seemed to me that when mothers comb their daughter's hair, they transmit an intangible love and a wordless beauty that couldn't be conveyed in any other way. Like how a sweater knit by your grandmother's knotted fingers carries the fragrance of time and loving care.
