Ad Lib scoops Thompson's 'raw, funny and glamorous' memoir

Ad Lib has scooped Inside Out: The Extraordinary Legacy of April Ashley, a "raw, funny and glamorous" memoir by author Douglas Thompson. Editorial director Duncan Proudfoot acquired world all language rights directly from the author.

The book will be released in paperback, e-book and audiobook on 2nd November 2023. It tells the story of April Ashley, who "flew through the turbulence of her life with dazzling humour and an apparent insouciance which disguised times of despair and torment".

The synopsis said: "One Sunday morning, it all changed. It was revealed that this tall, remarkable-looking woman had been born a boy. It was 1961, but the reaction was mediaeval. There was little sign of the time and tolerance afforded the transgender community today.

"Inside Out tells a story of love, kindness and boundless courage that took April into the merchant navy and, during a remarkable and pioneering metamorphosis, to the glamorous hotspots of London, Paris and the Riviera in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and California in the 1990s to become the grand dame of a sexual revolution."

Thompson said: "April had an aura about her. She attracted people and conversations and studied looks everywhere I went with her. Not because of who she was but the way she held herself, the confidence, the grace of a distinguished woman. Her interests, her friends, like her life, were eclectic.

"She was as happy discussing the plot intricacies of ’Coronation Street’ with bemused guests at La Combe d’Or in the south of France, as explaining navigational tactics about crossing the Pacific in a yacht with the Commodore of the San Diego Yacht Club and bemoaning the table manners of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones at her London nightclub. Becoming April Ashley was only the beginning – her extraordinary life followed."

Proudfoot added: "April Ashley overcame extraordinary adversity in youth and underwent pioneering and risky surgery to become the woman she felt she had always been. This book is a wonderful celebration of April’s legacy, written by someone who knew her personally."