Maaike Sips - Papa Monica

2016, German, Maaike Sips,

"Papa Monica: Als mein Vater plötzlich kein Mann mehr sein wollte und ich versuchte, cool zu bleiben" (Papa Monica: When suddenly my father didn't want to be a man anymore and I tried to remain cool) is the German language edition of "Monica, mijn vader" by Maaike Sips.

In "Papa Monica", Maaike Sips tells the story of her father, who decided at the age of 60 that he no longer wanted to be a man. After Maaike Sips' father retires, he announces that he wants to undergo a gender reassignment surgery and henceforth wants to go through life as a woman. All of a sudden, Maaike lacks the father she always had – even if he was an incorrigible macho.

But now there is Monica, who shows a hitherto unknown sense of family and would like to talk to her daughter about shoes. Maaike Sips tries to stay cool – and embarks on an adventurous journey into her father's past to find out how much of this unexpected side has always been secretly dormant in the father.

"Maaike Sips grew up near Amsterdam. Her parents have been going their separate ways for a long time. Nevertheless, Maaike is in regular contact with her father Cees, the unfaithful husband. On a Sunday afternoon in January 2012, he suddenly announced to her that he was going to have an operation and that he would henceforth go through life as a woman. All of a sudden, Maaike is missing the father she always had, even if he was an incorrigible macho. But now there is Monica, who displays a hitherto unknown sense of family and would like to talk to her daughter about shoes. Maaike tries to keep her cool and starts researching: about other transgender people and the long road to gender reassignment. 

Increasingly, she wonders what she actually knows about her father. Her memories of her youth suddenly begin to falter and she embarks on an adventurous journey into her father's past in order to fathom how much of this unexpected side has always secretly slumbered in him. Perhaps the image she had of her father had been merely a veil behind which Monica had always been hiding. >> How long have you known this?<< is one of her first questions to her father after he drops the bombshell. >> << my whole life.

The book was published by Knaur Verlag, with empathy and a lot of humour, Maaike Sips tells the story of her father, who suddenly announced at the age of 65 that he no longer wanted to be a man. And in doing so, she dives into the past of a person she is only now really getting to know." - Rolf Ständeke & Ingrid Ständeke Echo Nord

Available via amazon.de