A random collection of over 1994 books and audiobooks authored by or about my transgender, intersex sisters, and gender-nonconforming persons all over the world. I read some of them, and I was inspired by some of them. I met some of the authors and heroines, some of them are my best friends, and I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing some of them. If you know of any transgender biography that I have not covered yet, please let me know.
Original title: "La torre de marfil 2: Experiencias de una niña transsexual" (The Ivory Tower: Experiences of a Transsexual Girl 2) by Ernesto Rubio Sánchez. The book was initially published in 2016 under the title Vicky II: Experiencias de una niña transexual.
Ernesto Rubio Sánchez’s La torre de marfil 2: Experiencias de una niña transsexual continues the deeply human story that began in the first volume of his trilogy. Originally published in 2016 under the title Vicky II: Experiencias de una niña transexual, this second installment invites readers to step further into the life of its central character, following her as she grows from a confused child into a determined woman trying to carve out her own space in a world that refuses to understand her. Through this journey, Rubio Sánchez weaves not only a coming-of-age tale but also a powerful reflection on identity, courage, and survival in an era that offered little room for difference.
The narrative unfolds against the vivid backdrop of the Movida Madrileña, a cultural and artistic explosion that reshaped Spain in the years following Franco’s dictatorship. While this period is often celebrated for its spirit of freedom and rebellion, the novel reveals a different side of the story, the exclusion and marginalization faced by those who did not fit within the new social order’s still-narrow boundaries. For a young trans girl navigating adolescence during such a time, every step toward self-recognition becomes an act of defiance. The novel does not romanticize this struggle; instead, it grounds it in the harsh realities of discrimination, ignorance, and social fear. The author captures how the absence of language itself, the lack of a recognized concept of “transsexuality”, adds another layer of isolation. Without words to describe her identity, the protagonist must invent herself in a void, surrounded by a society that mistakes her for something she is not.
2022,
Ernesto Rubio Sánchez,
Spanish,
Original title: "La torre de marfil: Experiencias de una niña transexual" (The Ivory Tower: Experiences of a Transgender Girl) by Ernesto Rubio Sánchez.
Ernesto Rubio Sánchez’s La torre de marfil: Experiencias de una niña transexual is a deeply emotional and courageous work that opens a window into the life of a transgender girl in Spain during one of the most difficult and misunderstood periods in the country’s modern history. The book takes place in 1983, only a few years after the end of Franco’s dictatorship, when social conservatism and religious morality still weighed heavily on Spanish life. In this setting, Antonio Manuel, a ten-year-old child who knows in her heart that she is a girl, grows up surrounded by a society that refuses to see her truth. What for other children might be simple joys, playing with dolls, wearing dresses, or moving gracefully, is, for her, a forbidden dream. Every gesture, every desire becomes a small act of rebellion against the rigid expectations of gender and a world unwilling to accept difference.
Rubio Sánchez tells Antonio Manuel’s story with sensitivity and realism, capturing not only the pain of growing up trans in such an environment but also the tender humanity of a child seeking love and understanding. The family home, far from being a refuge, becomes another battlefield. The parents’ rejection, born from ignorance and fear, reflects the broader lack of education and empathy in a society that had yet to learn the meaning of diversity. The educational system, marked by strict discipline and moral rigidity, further isolates Antonio Manuel. Every attempt to express femininity is punished, and every attempt to conform feels like a betrayal of her inner self. The “ivory tower” of the title becomes a powerful metaphor for the isolation imposed on those who cannot or will not fit into the mold society demands.
2016,
Ernesto Rubio Sánchez,
Spain,
Spanish,
