Dedication
This book is dedicated to the woman who embraces her own becoming, and especially to the woman who cannot.
Author’s Note
This is a true story, reconstructed from the memory of my experience. All the names and many identifying characteristics have been changed to preserve the anonymity of the people I have written about. In a few cases, I have modified or compressed the chronology of events for the sake of narrative flow.
Epigraph
it was when i stopped searching for home within others
and lifted the foundations of home within myself
i found there were no roots more intimate
than those between a mind and body
that have decided to be whole
—rupi kaur
Front Matter