Terry Dactyl

This book follows the fictional account of Terry Dactyl, a queer icon that has lived many lives by the time readers encounter her. She was raised by lesbian mothers in Seattle, coming into her own as a transgender girl in the 1980s, when the AIDS crisis was ravaging the community. In the nightlife, Terry finds chosen family among gender-bending club kids, who come together with drugs and queer fun. She eventually gets a job at a Soho gallery, where she brings club culture to the elite art world, often after nights of party.

The story then moves forward twenty years, to the COVID-19 lockdown, when Terry returns to Seattle, now quarried by gentrification and pandemic isolation. Following the murder of George Floyd, the book documents the Seattle community's resistance and Terry’s search for community. The narrative traces a journey of a lifetime, giving readers a portrait of queer identity in a precarious world.