Housewife - by Kristin K Collier (Paperback)

About the Book

Kristin Collier and her spouse redefine their marriage after gender transition. Housewife is an award-winning account from a wife and mother's perspective.

Book Synopsis

Kristin Collier and her spouse redefine their marriage after her husband announces he has always felt like a woman inside. Over the course of her spouse's gender transition, Kristin evolves too. She leans into her garden, community, and new romantic interests while transforming as a woman, mother, and housewife. With honesty, humor, and grounded in her practice of Compassionate Communication, Collier redefines homemaking as she and her spouse continue to live and parent as partners in the same household. Housewife is a rare personal account of a partner's response to gender transition. Including poetry, blog posts, and four pictures from before and after transition, Collier tells her story from the perspective of a woman and mother as her family breaks out of the box. This book won several awards, including a Silver Nautilus.

Review Quotes

"There is an openness and vulnerability to Collier's writing that feels like sitting down to coffee with a best friend. It's an unfettered look at how Seda's transition affected Kristin's life and future plans, and how the idea of family transformed in her mind to mean so much more than she ever thought it could. This book was written not only to give a spouse's view of transition, but also as a resource for anyone who wants to learn more about transgender issues or gain better understanding, in order to become supportive of transfamilies. It is also the story of a woman faced with an unimaginable obstacle, and how she found the strength to climb over it to find a place of contentment, acceptance, and peace on the other side." -- Foreword Reviews (5 of 5 stars) "A woman grapples with a new reality after her husband comes out as a transwoman in this detailed debut memoir of marriage and transformation. Collier, a natural storyteller, delivers detailed dialogue and engrossing scenes, including "snapshots" of her memories over the years. The chaos of watching these characters form a family again is all the more tender when others, such as Collier's mother, express love for Seda. A complex transgender love story that mixes selfishness and compassion." --Kirkus Reviews "Housewife is an inspiring, uplifting, beautiful love story that shows us what it means to love unconditionally and how to be genuine and honest with both ourselves and others. Kristin gives us insight into how we can honor our own needs while simultaneously seeing the beauty in the needs of others, offering a path for inner and outer peace from which we could all learn. This book will capture your heart." --Cat J. Zavis, Empathic Communication Trainer and Executive Director of the Network of Spiritual Progressives "Memoir writers win over audiences when they share unique stories that tell universal truths. Kristin Collier's "Housewife" is a winning memoir. My own experience as the "wife of" was quite different from hers, yet totally the same. I have little in common with Kristin, yet so very much. All of us with transitioning partners will come undone in many of the same ways Kristin did, then we'll find our paths back to the places that speak to us. What I most applaud Kristin for, beyond her bold truth-telling, is her willingness to keep an open mind and an open heart, to remain empathetic toward her spouse, and, most of all, to herself. That is what you call a happy ending." --Diane Daniel Freelance Journalist www.shewasthemanofmydreams.com www.bydianedaniel.com "Partner and spouse stories are few and far between, and are as different from each other as trans people's experiences are. Housewife is an inspiring example of how redefining "family" can save a relationship. Kristin and Seda's experience demonstrates the power of love to find a way to survive against incredible odds. Thinking outside the box of what marriage means has allowed their family life to expand and remain stable." -- Reid Vanderburgh, retired therapist and author of Transition and Beyond: Observations on Gender Identity and Journeys of Transformation: Stories from Across the Acronym. "Housewife unflinchingly details one woman's elaborate struggles to accommodate her transgender mate, while not giving up her own identity. Determined to love and be "parenting partners, ' they offer a different model of family. This book explores varied possibilities, without apology or regret. It's a fresh take on an emerging reality." --Carol Grever, Author of My Husband is Gay "A must-read for anyone who is curious about transgender people and their partners but is too afraid to ask!" - Michael Thessen, author of Lickety-Split: Small Stories and Hysterical Fiction