A Girl like Alice

ABOUT Ross Bryant

Ross Bryant
ROSS BRYANT’s life has spanned the post war technological revolution and is as multi-faceted as this, his first novel. It has encompassed a successful career, both as a designer in the engineering industry, and as an artist. His paintings are in private collections all over the world. T More...

Description

Andrew considered himself a freak of nature. His transgender condition was not his choice, he just developed that way. It had caused him great distress as a child, especially as he approached puberty. After all, boys just want to be boys.


At fourteen, with his feminine attributes increasingly difficult to conceal, he is bullied and persecuted by almost everyone until, gathering all his courage, he flees his home in England and makes his way to France.


Alone and desperate, on the streets of Paris, he is befriended by Michelle, a young prostitute, and given shelter in her brothel, under the protection of the madam, Madame Leclerc. From here he is rescued and adopted by Virginia Montcalm, a bohemian artist. She and the youngest of her three daughters, take him to their home in the south, near the historic city of Carcassonne, where, with the love and support of his new family, Andrew begins to blossom, intellectually, physically and sexually.


Reluctantly at first, but encouraged by Ginny's daughters, he decides to accept what nature has made him and transforms into the stunningly beautiful, Alice Montcalm.


The hand of fate touches Alice again, in Bavaria during the fateful summer of 1971, where she meets the enigmatic Beate, the owner of a chain of sex supermarkets. Beate, an ex Lufwaffe pilot, introduces her to the joy of flight and offers her a job as a glamour model. Her natural beauty and sexuality brings her the fame and fortune that she needs to found,
Aerospatial Montcalm, a powerful technological empire, with the ultimate objective of a manned return to the moon.


However, when her true nature and capability is revealed, she is viewed as a threat to the
Illuminati, a secret cabal of people bent on world domination, and put under constant surveillance.


Her spaceflight becomes the most controversial reality television show ever, and when its true purpose is betrayed, Alice soon finds that nothing is easy and never safe. 

This story is entertaining, titillating and thought provoking with something of interest for adults of all genders. It is set against a background of real events, weaving fact and fiction around the post war technological revolution in electronics aviation and spaceflight.

This is a most unusual debut novel and must be read to be fully appreciated. Read it, full page, on the BookBuzzr gadget.

Follow the link, below, to Ross's Blog, for more about the author and for full details of how this story came about.

Friends have been telling me, for years, that I should write an autobiography or memoir. I had always laughed at them until 3 years ago when I read an article on the five things you should do before you die. One of them was, write a book. I realised, for the first time that I had more than enough knowledge and experience of life to do just that. I decided to write a biographic novel. All that I needed was a hook, something to make my story stand out from the crowd. I needed a suitable principal character, male or female, around whom a plot could be woven, a person who was different in some way; someone with the talents for success, but with personal demons which would have to be overcome before his or her dreams could be realised. A few years ago, I returned to my office, from a business meeting, to find a very well dressed young woman, who I did not recognise, talking to one of my colleagues. After she had left, my colleague asked me if I knew who she was. It transpired that she was, in fact, a he- a former colleague who was in the process of gender reassignment. Needless to say, my failure to recognise him became the subject of much amusement at my expense. However, it was not until much later, when I was reminded of the incident during a dinner with friends and colleagues, that it dawned on me that, at last, I had my principal character. From that point on, the story seemed to write itself and became a hugely enjoyable experience. However, I soon realised that my choice of a transgendered heroine not only took me outside my comfort zone, as a heterosexual male, but would make the book difficult to categorise, in that it doesn’t easily fit into an established genre. However, I screwed up my courage had some POD copies made and rolled them out to people who I knew would give me an honest critique. The response was so overwhelmingly positive, from both male and female readers, that I decided that this unusual tale deserved a wider audience. The story is entertaining, romantic, and sexy, and, I hope, inspiring. There is something for everyone, from the difficulties of childhood to conspiracy theory, terrorism, religion, politics, aviation and spaceflight.

From Amazon UK:

5.0 out of 5 starsStimulating, 1 Jun 2009
I enjoyed every minute of it. Can we have more from the same author, please?
 

4.0 out of 5 starsA great read, 13 April 2009
By  HJM "HJM" (England) - See all my reviews
Meticulously researched and both creatively and boldly envisaged, this is a thought provoking and hugely enjoyable read. Highly recommended!

5.0 out of 5 starsA book of the can't put down type.., 10 April 2009
Why haven't I heard of Ross Bryant before. This is an excellent book of the can't put down variety. Although this is a work of fiction, a considerable amount of research must have been put into it to make it believable. I can't wait for the next book from this author.



 
5.0 out of 5 starsGeoff Corbett, 10 April 2009
By  G. J. Corbett (London U.K.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
A great read, a new dimension with current overtones, a book that I can recommend.

 
5.0 out of 5 starsFantastic read!, 9 April 2009
By  V. J. Jeeves (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
What a fantastic read this book was. I'm a busy working mother with not a lot of spare time on my hands, but I honestly could not put this book down (which was recommended to me by a friend). The kids had to starve for a few nights while my head was buried inside it. I hope to see a sequel soon, I can't wait to see what Alice gets up to next. Thanks Mr Bryant, for writing such a brilliant page turner - more please, it really was a refreshing change (even if I did get a bit hot under the collar ;o)