Lucy Sante

Lucy Sante emerges as a deeply introspective and intellectually rigorous narrator whose lifelong struggle with gender identity is inextricably linked to her experiences as an immigrant, artist, and academic. Her character is defined by a profound capacity for self-analysis and historical contextualization—she consistently positions her personal journey within broader cultural and social frameworks, from her childhood displacement between Belgium and America to her adult navigation of New York's bohemian art scene. Sante's voice combines vulnerability with scholarly precision, revealing someone who has spent decades observing and analyzing both herself and the world around her. Her early experiences of otherness as a French-speaking child in homogenous New Jersey prepared her psychologically for the more complex negotiations of gender identity, creating a character who understands intimately what it means to exist between worlds and translate oneself across different contexts.

Throughout the memoir, Lucy demonstrates remarkable resilience alongside...