Review of Woodworking by Emily St. James

Woodworking explores interconnected transgender characters' experiences, fears, challenges, and joys as they work toward living true, fulfilling lives. Emily St. James's debut novel is poignant, funny, heartbreaking, often surprising, and heartwarming.

It's called woodworking. Someday they will wake up and you will be gone. To have a future, you cannot have a past. You will have to disappear into the woodwork to finally be seen.

Emily St. James crafts a tender, funny story with zing about a secretly trans high school teacher in a small town in South Dakota who befriends the only other transgender person she is aware of, one of her students.

Erica Skyberg is recently divorced and feeling adrift...except that now she is positioned to live into her true self more fully than ever. (When her given male name is referenced in the audiobook, it sounds like static, as she does not relate to it and it's a dead name for her.)

Young Abigail has her own issues; she has fled her fundamentally Christian (and abusive) parents and lives with her older sister and her boyfriend. She's annoyed at first at the prospect of shepherding her teacher through her own self-discovery, but the two develop a friendship that ultimately goes deeper than the One Big Thing they have in common, and soon others are taking notice, criticizing their bond, and asking probing questions.

The novel flits between the stories of three women from disparate backgrounds, drastically different paths to becoming themselves, and poignant recognition among them of their struggles and victories, even as they diverge in their approaches to living fulfilling existences.

The book title comes from the idea of trans people blending in and fading into the woodwork. The quote at the start of this review references a conversation between a frightened young trans woman and a mentor of sorts; later in the novel the young woman realizes that the mention of "woodworking" wasn't meant to be a handbook, but a warning about hiding identity.

I was most touched by the interconnectedness and love, the universal elements of the characters' experiences as well as their unique perspectives and circumstances, and the reimagined possibilities for their futures.

Woodworking offers funny moments and touching bonds. St. James doesn't lay out neat endings tied up with bows, but there is promise and hope for each main protagonist.

I received a prepublication audiobook edition of this spring 2025 title courtesy of Libro.fm and Penguin Random House Audio.

Other Titles You Might Like

Woodworking is Emily St. James's first novel.

You might also want to check out Bossy reviews of a few more books with transgender characters and protagonists.