REVIEWS
Modern romance offers fresh literary perspectives
Bellies, the debut novel from Nicola Dinan, is a fresh and compelling literary romance that hopefully signposts exactly where the much-saturated genre is heading in the future. It begins when Tom meets Ming at a university drag night and the two boys fall in love on the dance-floor. Through interlocking chapters from both Tom’s and Ming’s perspectives, the novel presents its tropes: the awkward and introverted Tom is drawn to the popular and outgoing Ming, rapt in his confidence and aura, he is a projection of everything Tom wishes he could be. Their romance is sweet and wholesome. They travel the world together. All seems well.
Until it isn’t. After a while, Ming starts being distant from Tom and reveals that he is considering transitioning. Suddenly, the novel turns from boy-meets-boy romance to something much more interesting. Traversing the pitfalls of the gender transition novel, Dinan, who herself is trans, deftly weaves a compelling and compassionate narrative that feels totally unique in this