Reading Soula Emmanuel’s gorgeous debut novel, Wild Geese, is like being put inside a character you already somehow know. Phoebe Forde is an Irish trans woman who is pursuing her Ph.D. in Sweden and living in Copenhagen. At 30, she is three years into her transition. While leaving her home (and her ex Grace) behind has in some ways given her the gift of freedom and anonymity that she craved in order to figure herself out and grow into the person she wants to be, she is also lonely and bored with her studies. Partly through circumstance and partly through her tendency to wall herself off, Phoebe doesn’t have any close friends. When Grace shows up unannounced at her door one day, claiming to be vacationing in Copenhagen for the weekend, the pair embark on a few days of adventure, reconnection, and learning both about themselves and each other, and the ways they impact each other’s lives.
The full piece can be read here.
Soula Emmanuel 