I Want To Be Doris Day (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

A story where the human spirit can defeat adversity and love transcends bigotry It is the late fifties, James and Josephine Middleton with their precocious daughter Alice, move from London to Belmont Place in Watford. Belmont Place is a large Victorian residence, housing various tenants in its converted flats and bedsits. The move is a big step for the family who previously lived in a neighbourhood that was a slum due to bomb damage from the war. When Alice decides to take a look around the large property, she meets Bobby and Nigel; the only other two children living on the property; they quickly become friends. It is evident from the start that Nigel is different from most other young boys. It’s because of this difference, he gets bullied and called ‘sissy’ by the other children in his school. Nigel trusts Alice and admits to her that he wishes to be Doris Day. Confiding in her, he tells her, he is actually a girl. He believes his mother made a mistake when registering his birth, and accidentally registered him as a boy. He begs Alice not to tell anyone as he fears his mother may be ostracised like him. After a few weeks of moving into the house, a new couple arrive; George and Juney. They claim to be film stars. They have a certain air of elegance surrounding them as they move into the penthouse- a larger flat at the top of the house. However, we soon learn that the relationship between the couple is not that of love, but of business; George is Juney’s pimp. Josephine makes friends with Elsie; Nigel’s Mother, and also Mae Van de Muir, an ex- Dutch resistance fighter. The three lives become intrinsically entwined throughout the story. Later in the manuscript, Elsie becomes unwell. After several trips to the hospital, she receives the devastating news that she has a malignant tumour on her lung. Desperate for her son not to be put in a children’s home when she dies, she asks Mae to take care of him. To put her mind at rest, Mae kindly agrees to take responsibility for Nigel. A couple of year’s later; life takes a turn for the worst for Juney. When trying to protect herself from George, she accidentally kills him. In fear of being caught and hanged, she turns to Mae and Tom (Nigel’s brother) for help. Without any thought for themselves, they help her dispose of his body on a bombsite near Nigel’s school. When the body is found by the police, Juney knows she has only a short time before she is charged with murder. Nigel is facing more and more backlash against his feminine nature; he gets into a fight after school whereupon Alice and Bobby save him. When he returns home, he is distraught and explains to Mae that he is desperate to be a girl. He tells her of the sheer unhappiness of living as a boy. To prove how he feels he dresses up as a woman to show Mae that this is no passing phase. Mae is understanding and helps Nigel feel at ease, but explains to him that he cannot live as a girl, as society will not be so understanding as she has been.