A bit weird a bit odd but exactly what I was looking for. This book is a collection of weird queer stories and a must read queer fiction

Some stories like the first and fourth one were well executed, the rest I sadly did not connect with them at all which made me lose the message that was attempted to be conveyed.

"A Dream of a Woman" is a beautiful portrait of the complicated relationships we find ourselves experiencing. With a strong focus on trans characters, this book is more relevant now than ever.

I was late to join the Little Fish bandwagon (I read it last year, 2021), so I was excited about receiving access to Plett's latest collection of short stories. The stories feature trans women and show a variety of experiences-some joyful, others not so. They are brought to life by the author which made them more poignant.

A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett has been on my radar because it was longlisted for the Giller Prize, last year. What links all of the short stories is they are all about the lives of transgender women. I thought the writing was good and I will definitely read more from Casey Plett. If I had to choose my favourite story of the collection, I think I would go with Hazel and Christopher. I thought that was well done. This is definitely a collection to check out if you like short stories and if you are interested in stories about transgender women.

The author was the narrator of the audiobook and that does not always go well in fiction. In this case it was ok. I wonder how it would have been done if someone else or a couple of people had done the narration.

A Dream of a Woman is a bit of a fever dream. I'm glad I took the journey even though I'm not sure I loved it. I would be intrigued to read more by this author in the future.

Fiction lets us experience the daily lives of the characters in a way no other form does, and the time is particularly apt for readers to walk for a while in the footsteps of trans women. Casey Plett is a prizewinning Canadian author and trans woman with two previous highly acclaimed books to her name: the novel Little Fish and the short story collection A Safe Girl to Love.

Her latest short story collection, A Dream of a Woman, falls in between the short story and novel forms, as it includes separate short stories and also a long story broken into shorter fiction that appears here and there throughout the book. This more sustained tale is about David and Iris, who meet at school and have a friendship, become a couple, and then develop a more complex relationship that they keep coming back to for years as David transitions.

The other stories reflect similar themes to Plett’s first short story collection, with trans women living their experience in as many varied ways as there are characters. The stories can be positive but not in a simplistic way as they show the stream of consciousness of the women as they search for love.

Plett is not a highly descriptive or poetic writer, instead bringing her characters to life in specific detail and plain-spoken prose that also evokes the settings, across Canada and the US. Like David, the other characters are at various stages of transition and make different decisions about surgery and relationships. Deeply aware of their own changing bodies, they show the reader how they feel and what transition is in practical and emotional terms. I learnt from this, even though as a trans ally I have read widely already.

The stories don’t shy away from sex and are specific and vivid rather than erotic and definitely not written to titillate. They portray trans women in a way that lets the reader step into their world, drawing us in and increasing our understanding. With so much misunderstanding about trans people, good fiction is a perfect way to counteract the raised voices of so much discourse on this subject.

The stories are not strong on plot, pulling the reader in and holding them in the world Plett creates, rather than motivating the reader on to find out what’s going to happen. The longer story of David and Iris is helpful in this, as it does follow the plot of their lives and how they and their relationship develop. I was left wanting to know more about them, which is a good sign.

I listened to this as an audiobook read by the author and thoroughly enjoyed it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4751309912

#adreamofawoman is a series of short stories by #caseyplett it was captivating to follow the stories of different trans women through their various lives. Many Thanks to #netgalley and #bespeakaudioeditions for gifting me the audiobook in exchange for an honest review

A DREAM OF A WOMAN is a remarkable short story collection focused on the lives of trans women: their internal experiences, their relationships with each other (as friends, as instant sisters, as hookups, as romantic partners), their dynamics with others, their coming outs and transitions, their visions of themselves. It’s a beautifully intimate set of stories, some interwoven across the book and some standalone. Plett delves into a wealth of themes: the push and pull of relationships, especially with people who you can see so much of yourself in; self-hatred, or perhaps, projecting resentment at the self because it’s safer than doing so externally; desire, and its boundaries, its interruptions; the harms of substance abuse, transphobia, and assault; and home, in a place or with a person. I’ve been wanting to read Plett’s work for years, and I’m so glad I picked this book up. Thanks to ECW Press for the audio review copy!

Content warnings: sexual assault, homophobia, transphobia, body dysphoria, family rejection, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts

I really enjoyed this collection focusing on the stories of trans women. The characters are very real, whole, flawed people. I liked that the audiobook was narrated by the author, as many of the stories seemed to draw on her personal experiences.

I loved Plett's book "Little Fish" a few years back, but here it really feels like she has broken onto a whole new level with her writing. These interwoven stories made me laugh, brought tears to my eyes, had me relating hard at certain moments and also learning new things about the day-to-day realities of queer and trans lives very different from my own. The prose and Plett's narrative voice (within each of the character voices) are entrancing, as is Plett's own audiobook narration. It's absolutely not a given that any author can pull off the audio narration of their own book, but she definitely did that, and more than that, added to the overall experience of the text with her performance.
Something I appreciated about the narrative here was the added sense of depth the geographical movements of the characters (and the overall progression across time, the decade or so leading up to the present) lent to this work. Side note, I have a love/hate relationship with Portland and my home state of Oregon and I was amused and pleased to see the PNW represented here in what I knew to be a Canadian author's work (with that same love/hate perspective haha). And come to think of it, that love/hate dynamic towards the people/places that have both shaped us and hurt us (a tension held in place with a necessary and dark sense of humor) is something at work on a few levels of this book and it's something the author does very well, with nuance, humor, and a generous spirit.
I'll be continuing to recommend this author and will get ahold of a hard copy of this particular book for myself. A big thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of the audiobook.

This was a gem. Casey Plett's an absolute stunner at crafting intimate, personal, and organic stories. All focused on the lives of trans women across Canada and several US states, each story felt so incredibly grounded in both setting and each character's personal voice.

On a structural level, I was a particular fan of the way this collection was pieced together with certain stories broken into parts that were interspersed throughout the book and others in succinct single doses. I'm not sure I've ever encountered that before but I'd be very happy to encounter it again.

The audiobook, read by the author, was great. Plett is a talented reader and truly brings her characters and prose to life. Leaving off with a gorgeous quote I've done by best to transcribe (though admittedly may not have quite right, given the audio format)

"Vera could never tell another breathing creature how replete her bones were, how full of undirected forgiveness."

Casey Plett is a master at diving into difficult emotions and the anxiety that comes along with desire. I loved this collection even more than I enjoyed Little Fish, and I found every story to hit very close to home. The way Plett writes about the lives of trans women is so nuanced, emotional, and poignant, and I loved every character through their flaws and successes. This is a collection that I think is important for anyone to read and moves beyond surface-level conversations about the LGBTQIA+ community. Plett herself is an amazing narrator, and it was a great experience to listen to her read her own work.

A collection of short stories depicting the different lives of different transgender women. Each story is hard to listen to because of everything these women go through. Some stories are longer, some shorter, some heavier, some maybe could give you a little hope of joy in the horizon. The narration by the author was really great and I will definitely keep an eye out for more works by Casey Plett.

I am always such a sucker for an audiobook narrated by the author, and Casey Plett's self-narrated A Dream of a Woman is no exception. Plett moves through different narratives that feel as though they are in conversation with each other, pulling at the threads of the need for connection and understanding, the aftermath of trauma, the joys and sorrows of self discovery, and the difficulty of navigating the world as a trans woman. I was really struck by Plett's sense of place that she instills in these stories. Whether it's Portland, New York, Canada- each story feels so lived in and authentic. I can't remember the last time I so enjoyed an author's ability to hook me on slice of life stories.

Loved listening to Casey narrate A Dream of a Woman! I was reading A Safe Girl To Love at the same time, and it was so sweet to see characters show up in both. Loved the way there was one main story we followed, can’t wait to see what Casey does next!

A Dream of a Woman is full of real, lovely, cozy comfort. Listening to the author read the book was a real treat -- her voice is kind and open, and it's really nice to hear the stories as the author tells them. Casey Plett tells vibrant, full stories of trans women exploring life, relationships, and family. The stories flow and feel conversational, in her voice. Some of my favorite quotes from the stories are:
"It also made perfect sense, like of course, after all this time, this was the context where I'd see her again."
"This intentionality of communication, a very delicate and pointed openness. Queers like to talk shit about being terrible communicators, but I don't think that's always true. I'm trying to say I loved it when Cleo said this to me."

NB: the star rating is a reflection of the narration and not the story!

I was kindly sent an audiobook ARC for this collection through NetGalley. Unfortunately, I really did not enjoy the narration of the audiobook and could not make it through the first story. I am still very interested in reading this collection so I will likely pick up a hard copy instead and post a full review once I've read it. Thank you again to NeGalley for the ARC, this format just didn't work for me.

I was lucky enough to get to listen to the audiobook of this short story collection, which is read aloud by the author herself. I find that anytime a story is narrated by the author it is a much more immersive experience.; and that stands true of this collection, especially with the subject matter. This collection is something I would recommend to any Cis Gendered individual who just wants to listen to the raw and real perspectives of people that are not like them.

I always love listening to an author narrate their own work. Plett makes you feel all the emotions of her characters, who are messy and tough, honest and sometimes struggling. This is a beautiful set of stories—a few short works that orbit one of the longer ones, Obsolution. Hazel & Christopher might be my favorite.