Bellies

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

It begins as your typical boy meets boy. While out with friends at a university drag night, Tom buys Ming a drink. Confident and witty, a charming young playwright, Ming is the perfect antidote to Tom's awkward energy, and their connection is instant. Tom finds himself deeply and desperately drawn into Ming's orbit, and on the cusp of graduation, he's already mapped out their future together. But, shortly after they move to London to start their next chapter, Ming announces her intention to transition.

From London to Kuala Lumpur, New York to Cologne, we follow Tom and Ming as they face shifts in their relationship in the wake of Ming's transition. Through a spiral of unforeseen crises - some personal, some professional, some life-altering - Tom and Ming are forced to confront the vastly different shapes their lives have taken since graduating, and each must answer the essential question: is it worth losing a part of yourself to become who you are?

'Smart, hilarious and deeply moving' Elliot Page, author of Pageboy

'Bellies announces Nicola Dinan as a genuine literary talent, a gimlet-eyed cartographer of the human heart' Sharlene Teo, author of Ponti

'Thoughtful, seductive, and entirely engrossing - Bellies is already a classic' Bryan Washington, author of Memorial and Lot


©2023 Nicola Dinan (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

At its best, Bellies is as deep as it is chic
Guardian
The most hotly anticipated novel of the summer
Harper's Bazaar
A tender, emotional exploration of gender and sexual identity
Marie Claire
Beautiful depiction of derailed love
Chris Power, Sunday Times
A poignant tale that explores the messy complexities of relationships, with recognisably imperfect characters at its core
Sunday Times Style
Dizzyingly beautiful
Grazia
A vividly drawn cast of supporting characters enhances this absorbing and carefully balanced novel - narrated from both Tom and Ming's perspectives - which manages to be both deeply touching and wickedly witty.
Daily Mail
Dinan's gift as a writer is her ability to make us feel - when her characters cry, we cry; when they laugh, we laugh; and everybody is changed by the end of this novel, including the reader. A beautiful love story and an exceptional debut.
Irish Times
This begins as a boy-meets-boy love story, but when the couple leaves university to go to London, one goes through the process of transitioning and the story is about what happens to their relationship from that. It's a really beautiful, underrepresented love story in fiction.
i, Debuts To Keep An Eye On In 2023
A novel overspilling with care and affection for its characters.... The hype for her book is high
i-D magazine

User Reviews

Book 3.0
Narration 5.0
3.0
5.0
Tdk 23/07/2024

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