Jayne Mead

My Hairy Life Jayne Mead

Suzie Holtz, the heroine of this worldly and vivid novel, is the daughter of neurotic East European Holocaust survivors who unsuccessfully attempt to make a life in Israel before immigrating to the United States just as she is riding on the cusp of sexual, emotional, and physical maturity. A collision between the parents' old-world views and those of a daughter with a hunger for autonomy and identification with American peers inevitably follows, creating a family crisis both familiar and tragic. But Suzie is dealt a further and utterly unexpected blow: She gradually develops secondary male characteristics, for which she lacks coping mechanisms and that soon affect every facet of her life. They rapidly destroy her self-esteem, and become the defining force in all her relationships.