The Butterfly Inside

Life is never black and white, although many people believe it should be. Can you imagine that a person might wake up each morning not feeling happy with themselves? Of feeling unhappy with themselves to the point of hating the person looking back at them? Most people will never have to think about this and most people don't understand it. Jessica L Rose learnt the hard way that transgender is like an onion, you have to slowly peel back the different layers to be able to understand it all. But once you do, then how do you deal with it and with those around you? On the day she was born, Jessica's mother brought her home to meet a sister who had not been prepared in any way to have her central place in the family usurped and she would spend the next forty years making Jessica's life a complete misery and turning her family against her. It wasn't until early adulthood that Jessica's sister discovered the root of her own unhappiness - she had been born the wrong gender. Jessica was pleased that her now brother had come to this realisation but she was unable to forgive his vile treatment of her. In Jessica's own motherhood, she would see one of her own children go through gender reassignment and while her brother's transition was handled in one way, Jessica chose to handle the transition of her son in another. Her memoir presents these two very different stories and leaves the reader to decide on their own route to becoming the person they were meant to be.