Serpent's Tail to publish 'uniquely trans take on love and parenting' by Torrey Peters

Serpent's Tail will publish Torrey Peters’ debut Detransition, Baby, described as a "uniquely trans take on love and parenting".

Assistant editor Leonora Craig Cohen acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Rachel Kind at Penguin Random House US, which is publishing the book on its One World imprint. The title will be published similtaneously in the UK and US in January 2021. 

Detransition, Baby follows Reese, a PR executive who after breaking up with her girlfriend Amy hasn't been able to find love. Amy, who after a brutal attack de-transitions to become Ames and Katrina, Ames' boss whom he gets pregnant during an affair. Initially, both Reese and Katrina are baffled by Ames’ proposal to raise the baby as a trio, but perhaps this will be what forces all of them to make peace with the past.

Craig Cohen said: "Detransition, Baby is a caustically funny, warm-hearted novel and a thoughtful exploration of what it really means to care for one another. I’m overjoyed to have acquired it and I can’t wait for people to start reading."

Peters commented: "Leonora understood right off how my novel about trans women is not only provocation for the current moment, but also a trans entry in a long tradition: fiction about difficult women challenging notions of family, mothering, misogyny, and proper behaviour. In fact, many of the authors writing in this tradition who inspired me have themselves been published by Serpent’s Tail!"