Bellies

A tender, funny coming-of-age novel for fans of Torrey Peters and Raven Leilani, about two queer students who fall in love at university and find their relationship dramatically upended when one of them decides to transition "Smart, hilarious, and deeply moving." —Elliot Page A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR from NPR, BookRiot and BookPage Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Books of 2023 It begins as your typical boy meets boy. While out with friends at their local university drag night, Tom buys Ming a drink. Confident and witty, a magnetic young playwright, Ming is the perfect antidote to Tom’s awkward energy, and their connection is instant. Tom finds himself deeply and desperately drawn into Ming’s orbit, and on the cusp of graduation, he’s already mapped out their future together. But shortly after they move to London to start their next chapter, Ming announces her intention to transition. From London to Kuala Lumpur, New York to Cologne, we follow Tom and Ming as they face tectonic shifts in their relationship and friend circle in the wake of Ming’s transition. Through a spiral of unforeseen crises—some personal, some professional, some life-altering—Tom and Ming are forced to confront the vastly different shapes their lives have taken since graduating, and each must answer the essential question: Is it worth losing a part of yourself to become who you are? Nicola Dinan grew up in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, and now lives in London. Bellies, her debut, was shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran Prize. Nicola is a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing-a-Novel course. Her work has appeared in Huck, i-D, Paper, Necessary Fiction and elsewhere.