Girl meets boy. They fall in love, and they marry. For thirty years they share one another’s lives.

That should have been the end of the story.

I thought I knew that man. I thought I had been shown into every corner of his mind. I’d shared every fear, every hidden longing. I thought he kept no secrets from me.

Turns out I never knew him at all.

Luke Livingstone is a lucky man. He’s a respected solicitor, a father and grandfather, a pillar of the community. He has a loving wife in Eilish and an idyllic home in the Oxfordshire countryside. Yet Luke is struggling with an unbearable secret, and it’s threatening to destroy him.

All his life, Luke has hidden the truth about himself. It’s a truth so fundamental that it will shatter his family, rock his community and leave him outcast. Luke has nowhere left to run. He must either end his life, or become the woman he knows himself to be – whatever the cost.

His family is tested to its limits, as each is forced to consider what makes a person essentially themselves. What do you do when you find that your husband, your father, your son – is not who you thought? Can you ever love him again?

Titled The New Woman in the UK and The Secret Life of Luke Livingstone in ANZ

“Throughout, Norman’s pitch and tone are impeccable. The writing has the smart snappiness of a screwball comedy, but no figure is an object of fun. Through Luke’s experience, Norman exposes the struggle and experience of a transgender community, and handles complex and widely misunderstood issues of gender identity with intelligence and compassion. Inventive, surprising and full of empathy, The Secret Life of Luke Livingstone is a fascinating story of a family in rapid evolution.” – Stephanie Jones, thecoast.net