I wrote this Cycle as a sister in struggle for the same cause. Why the wounds, which those creatures proved a century ago, have changed shape over time but do not change substance. So I wanted to write novels, but also to reclaim the real history of these people and these ideas. Did I succeed in my intention? Yes and no.

I didn't succeed in avoiding historical documents (they slow down the narration), fantasy and emotional involvement (they take away objectivity) and tragic endings: Dora disappeared, Charlotte died in poverty, Virginia built an empire, but died isolated from the transsexuals she despised. 

But maybe I succeeded in saying what really matters: here's who paid for you. Here's who paved the way for you. Here's why you can breathe today.

If you're a parent who doesn't understand your child, these novels are also for you. If you're a teacher who wants to explain, you'll find here three lives that speak louder than any manual. 

If you think that gender identity is a modern trend, these novels will show you that we've always existed, that we've always struggled, that we've always paid high prices for the right to be ourselves.

A couple of narrative choices. 

To convey the inner changes of the protagonists, I switched to the female pronoun as soon as they gave themselves a female name, even when they publicly used only their male name. 

Additionally, the terms "Cross-dresser" or "transsexual" - now obsolete and offensive - are used because they were the language of the time and show how painstakingly the language we use today has been built. If it bothers you to read them, good: it means the world has changed. But it's essential to know where we come from.

Finally, these novels are incomplete, I haven't told the story of homosexual men and women or transgender men. But I've only told what I know. And I've written every page like lighting a candle: not to illuminate everything, but to make a little light. Just enough to see the next step. To avoid stumbling in the dark. To not be alone.

If even one person, reading these novels, will feel less ashamed of their identity - it will be worth it. If even one parent will understand that their child is not sick but brave - it will be worth it. If even one struggling soul will feel that they're not the first, that they're not alone, that they're walking on a path paved by giants - then this cycle will have fulfilled its purpose.