Drawing Breath - Ellis, Jennifer

A book of memories. Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, childhood is peppered with untold freedom and strict codes of behaviour. There are fears of not being accepted, not conforming and for those suffering from gender dysphoria, there is nowhere to turn. A convent education brings Jennifer intense friendships, unrequited love and tussles with belief and disbelief in a higher being. She finds diversion in play acting and searching for adventure in the role of her alter ego. Emerging from the protective arms of a white middle class family, she confronts the harsh realities of life with a charismatic young man as her cicerone. After four years of teaching bring feelings of inadequacy, of not being up to the job and finding no place in heterosexual British society, Jennifer decides to start afresh and to leave England.