His Name is Rebecca

by Rebecca De Havalland

Eamon Tallon was happy to be different, preferring cut-out dolls to footballs, the Bunty to the Beano. Then his life was shattered when, from the age of seven, he was sexually abused at a school run by a religious order.

His journey to find himself – or herself, as it turned out – was long and tortuous. As “Eamon” he got married – he chose the wedding dress and the honeymoon was a clothes-shopping spree in London. As “Ross”, a gifted hairdresser, he lived as a gay man. Eventually he arrived at the truth: “he” was a woman in a man's body.

Rebecca was the first transgender in Ireland to have a full sex change.

But there were many other ‘lives’ to be lived – madam in a male brothel in Amsterdam, abused wife, heroin addict in London, night-club hostess Lady V in Dublin – before Rebecca finally found happiness, success, and a granddaughter she never knew she had.

This is the inspiring story of a woman who fought for fulfilment and found it, against all odds.

Genres: Nonfiction

305 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2011

Reviews

[Margaret Madden]

Review to follow...

[Karen Nolan]

Heart reanching but so, so funny. Forget any preconceptions you have about "true life stories" and read this book. Available direct from Poolbeg or Amazon. Unfortunately not available for e readers yet.

[Patrick Doherty]

Harrowing at times, but equally life-affirming, this is one of the best memoirs I've read in years.

[peter Benjamin]

wow what a powerful book especially the end what she went through and how she is still alive today well worth reading