In 2001, I read a very brief version of this story, essentially the first chapter, that Karen had written. I wondered what would happen after that. Eventually Karen Anne and I decided to co-write this story to find out. While there is a terrific narrative, mostly generated by Karen, this version is also character driven. Jacqui, the maid, and the other key character each have their own voice and we get know what they are thinking and feeling as they interact with each other, change and perhaps grow.

Like other stories of mine, this is a story about becoming, about how we deal with situations that may be beyond our control while still trying to maintain our core values and fundamental humanity. And while this story has high heels and corsets, Karen just can't live without a little kink, it is not one that is about sex. It is about Jacqui and how she makes her way in a not always friendly world.

 
David buries his wife after she loses her fight against cancer. He is nearly 50, and their children are now grown up, so he breaks the news that he is going to undertake that which he wanted to do for as long as he could remember — a sex change. He had struggled with his transsexuality all his life, but his love for his wife and respect for her meant he just played the hand that he had been dealt, up to now, that is.

Meanwhile, in the USA, grizzled Police Chief John Collingwood comes to near breaking point. Stressed from his job, his grief over his dead wife, and the despair of near alcoholism, he embarks on a trip to the UK with his brother to seek out his family tree.

Two very different people find a very different future, they also find each other...