I started my book review blog in 2009 and I have read so many outstanding books that I wanted to share them again with my followers on #SegueSaturday.  I first posted this review in June 2010. I remember this book had a great mystery with an extraordinary protagonist.

Enjoy!

She’s My Dad is Ms. Woulff’s debut novel and it a very unique story about a transgender English professor, Nickie Farrell (aka Nicholas Farrington) who comes back to her alma mater, Windfield College,  to teach.  Little does she know that there are major events that will change her life forever.  Nicholas Colin (“Collie”) Farrell hears a surprising confession from his mother that his father was a former student of Windfield College and not the evil, abusive, bigoted, low-life that she married.  Ambassador Eamon Douglass is a wealthy, psychotic old man who concocts a plot to kill the people at Windfield College by setting off a dirty bomb during a large gathering.

This book is about good over evil, about faith in human beings and about self-discovery and the power of love.  The characters range from evil, hateful human beings to inspiring, loving human beings.  I have worked at a liberal college for many years and have seen the results of hate crimes from within the college and the community and it saddens me that people are so judgmental and close-minded that they can’t see the wonderful, diverse community in which we belong.  I believe in Ms. Woulff’s characters because I have seen them with my own eyes.  The suspense in this novel will keep you reading and the message it brings will stay with you forever.

Thank you to Ms. Woulff for sending me her book for review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I’ve occasionally been described as “indescribable”. I suspect there may be some truth to this. A brief rundown: Iolanthe “Lannie” Woulff came into the world as a male during the fifth year of the Truman presidency, which means that she is officially an antique. In 1958 her family moved from Manhattan to the island of St. Thomas, where “Nate”, as Lannie was then called, enjoyed swinging from jungle vines and swimming on beautiful unspoiled beaches.

Moving back to the mainland as Vietnam protests convulsed the nation, Lannie gained admission to Princeton and graduated in 1973 with a degree in English. For a while she lived in New York City, then Israel, then Virginia, but finally settled in the California resort town of Palm Springs. Eventually, fulfilling a lifelong imperative, Lannie commenced the complex and emotionally turbulent process of gender transition.

She enjoys reading, fishing, target-shooting, cooking, doing absolutely nothing, and grilling steaks for her 102-year-old father, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Herman Wouk. Lannie has thus far published two novels: SHE’S MY DAD, and most recently, STAINER. Lord willin’ and the Creek don’t rise, more will follow.

Follow Ms. Woulff on her website and Goodreads.