A heartbreaking story of a mother and daughter each suffering with their mental health for different reasons. The daughter, Alice, was transgender and died by suicide after years of frustration due to the lack of health care she needed
This frustration was also felt by her mother and the rest of the family and their fight in attempting to make things better for others continues

This was a really heartfelt and emotive book, but despite the sadness in Alice's life within the book - there is so much hope too.
Caroline Litman was so supportive over her childs' transition. I think parents of trans children will find this book really informative.

I enjoyed the structure of the book, going back and forth within Alice's life. Allowing the reader to get to know Alice as a person and not just how she died.

It is a tough read at times, but incredibly insightful and eye opening.

This is a book that tells the story, unflinchingly, of Alice's suicide: the lack of support from our Health services beforehand, and the unfolding story of what happened after. It feels near impossible to write a review for something so tender and personal, but also Litman deserves such recognition for the way she has put this memoir together.
As our government and wider society continue to demonise trans people, and make it harder and harder for anyone to be seen for gender-affirming care, there are real and agonising consequences. I think this book makes it so clear that people need to be reading the news critically - what are they gaining from pushing an anti-trans (and anti-queer) narrative and are these exaggerated fear-mongering stories really reflecting the day-to-day lives of the more than 200,000 trans people living in the UK.
I could find no faults with the frank and heartfelt way that Litman wrote, and I'm left with the feeling that all of us need to be prepared to learn more and do more to support those in our communities who are vulnerable.

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review! <3

’I don’t need certificates or medals to find ways to talk about Alice. Her attributes alone do her justice’

Her Name is Alice is a poignant, heartbreaking and important look at the life and death of Alice Litman, a young trans woman who took her own life in 2022. Her mother, Caroline, dedicates this memoir to her transition, the complete failures of the NHS, UK government and society at large to respect and understand Trans people, and the grief of Alice’s family.

This is an exceptionally important book, and one that highlights the inadequacies and transphobia that is rampant in UK legislature and medical establishments. Alice was repeatedly let-down, again and again by services that could have and should have been there for a woman dealing with incredible dysphoria and anxieties. Caroline repeatedly outlines the hypocrisy of the NHS, that an appointment for an ear infection was seen in a matter of weeks, but for something as important as Alice’s gender, one wasn’t offered for months.

Learning about Alice herself was heartwarming. By the end of this memoir I felt like I knew her, that in another life we could have been friends. It is a testament to Caroline that she manages to capture Alice’s personality, her charm and humour, so perfectly.

I was further drawn to Caroline’s admissions of her own past innate transphobia. She was often honest to the point of painting herself a villain, condemning her past self at every turn. While reading this memoir, I respected her self-criticism, and her willingness to speak on her own flaws. However, my greatest critique of this book is also to do with Caroline. For a book dedicated to Alice, I felt often like I was reading a book about Caroline. Constantly I felt myself wondering why on earth I was reading about Caroline’s sub-par childhood, rather than Alice. I am not at all saying that Caroline shouldn’t write about her grief, and I am certainly not saying that Caroline shouldn’t write about her relationship with her daughter. I just wished I could’ve seen more of Alice.

Overall, Her Name is Alice is a well-written, insightful memoir, that I think now, more than ever, people should be reading.

Where to start? This is a beautiful book, albeit one that's immensely sad that there's a need for it exist. It's an incredibly sad story told with clear empathy and love. Her name is Alice sheds light on the realities of what being trans is like in the UK today, and serves as a call for change. It's not an easy read, but an important one. Litman has turned her personal story with unimaginable grief into something many people can be informed by and hopefully learn from. As a trans person myself, I found it respectfully written and would recommend to anyone, trans or not. In fact, I think this is a book a lot of cis people would benefit from reading.

There are obviously a fair amount of topics that could be considered triggering to some, so it's a book to read when in a robust state of mind. I found the author's honesty about her difficulty accepting her daughter a little hard at times to read. There is also a fair amount of more overtly TERF rhetoric included from other characters, but this doesn't feel gratuitous and it was heartwarming to read how much of a champion for trans rights the author has become. I appreciated and found it powerful to hear someone who has previously held transphobic attitudes articulate the flawed and problematic logic of some of all the too well known TERF rhetoric and take up space to defend trans people and their right to healthcare, respect and life.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a raw and honest read, very beautifully written and I feel honoured to learn about Alice's journey, I will remember her.

Her Name Is Alice is a deeply moving and important memoir that deserves to be read widely. In this raw and beautifully written book, Caroline Litman shares the story of her daughter Alice, a young trans woman who tragically died by suicide in 2022 after waiting nearly three years for an appointment at a gender identity clinic.

Litman writes with searing honesty about Alice’s transition, the challenges they faced as a family, and the devastating impact of a healthcare system that failed her daughter when she needed it most. Her love for Alice shines through every page, making this not only a book about loss and grief but also about identity, resilience and the urgent need for change.

The writing is stunning, filled with both tenderness and rage, capturing the complexity of navigating a world that too often puts barriers in front of trans people seeking support. It is impossible to read this without feeling deeply moved by Alice’s story and the injustice of what happened to her.

At Alice's inquest, the coroner concluded that her wait for gender-identity services contributed to the decline in her mental health. This is a sobering and heartbreaking reality for many trans people today, making this book all the more vital. As the conversation around trans healthcare continues, Her Name Is Alice stands as a necessary and unforgettable read, reminding us all of the human cost of inaction.

This is a book that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

A touching and profoundly thought-provoking book. It’s a difficult book to read but a very important one. It gave me an insight into some of the difficulties that trans people face constantly, and how important it is that as a country we change our attitudes towards trans people and invest in trans healthcare.

I always give honest reviews but if I wrote about this book as honest as I usually am I think I may look like a horrible person to people who have not read it yet.

Caroline lost her child to suicide, the pain she and her family must of gone through doesn’t bare thinking about. Alice was totally let down by so many professionals. What she must have gone through mentally and also physically is so upsetting. She was just a child and had no support from the people who are supposed to be helping. My heart breaks for her.

In regards this book, unfortunately, it mostly infuriated me. This book is called Her Name is Alice, but I felt this book was just mainly about Caroline and how Caroline felt everyone should see and feel things Caroline’s way. If you didn’t do things the way Caroline expected you to then you are wrong and not a nice person. You could feel the anger in every word and all the book succeeded in doing, in my honest opinion, was make her look like a very selfish person. I feel for the friends she pushed away and has wrote about as some of the portrayal of them makes it look like Caroline has a vendetta against them.

I am giving this book 2 stars. I can’t give more because all the book did was make me angry and not in the way Caroline expects. The way it’s written diverts the anger in the wrong direction. The direction the anger, felt by the reader, should be aimed at is the professionals and authorities and unfortunately this book didn’t go that way.

Alice, you were so troubled and so beautiful and you were let down by so many. I hope you are now at peace and I hope your story will help as many people as possible in the future.

Such a powerful, raw and important book. It is about grief, the realities of being Trans and also a damning indictment of how young people's mental health services are woefully inadequate and overstretched. It is, I hope, something that will be useful for so many to read to see the truths about these issues and to importantly see the human cost when we don't get things right.

Caroline Litman’s daughter, Alice, came out as transgender in 2018. After 1,023 days on the NHS waiting list for gender-affirming healthcare, Alice took her own life aged 20.

This memoir is haunting. Caroline Litman details Alice’s journey to coming out, the early stages of her transition, and the mental health trials that plagued Alice until her death.

From reading this memoir, I ended up learning a lot about transgender healthcare in the UK. Namely, the enormous wait times and lack of consistency when it comes to dealing with transgender patients. Alice and her family had to relay Alice's medical background, mental health history and transgender status almost constantly to any health professionals that treated her.

Caroline is very honest in her recounting of life after Alice’s death and how it affected her family, relationships and how she views the world. A must-read for anyone looking for an inside perspective of how transgender patients are dealt with by the health service.

This is an honest and raw read that I think shows the bravery of the family as a whole. It made me feel so many emotions all at the same time and I found myself wanting to hug them throughput reading it

Litman does a brave and honest counting of her daughter Alice’s life.
What this book does best is Litman’s reflections on the past and honouring her Alice’s life.
On a minor note, I was less interested in Litman and her partner’s private/romantic life after the tragedy, and I found some details just unnecessary.

The major note is Litman empowers parents and trans children with this book.

Alice is a young trans woman who took her own life after experiencing frustrating waits for gender reaffirming treatment. This book is written by her mother who describes her own struggles alongside her daughters. It’s an enlightening read but it is worth noting it’s really graphic. The mother seems to find some sort of comfort in the gory details but a lot of readers might find it a bit intense.

An incredibly moving book. Litman describes Alice with so much love and pride that I felt as if I knew her myself. She is honest, even to the point of self incrimination, with her initial transphobia and difficulties around Alice’s transition, which further demonstrates her inescapable grief and regret around Alice’s suicide. I adored reading the chapters when Alice was alive and pairing these chapters with days, weeks, months after her death really drove home the mournful memories Litman and her family had.

Memoirs, especially those around someone who has passed, are incredibly difficult to write (I assume), and difficult to read. This was a heavy book, both because of Alice’s suicide and the sadness and fear felt by the trans community. Litman balanced this book well, I wanted her to heal while understanding the grief she was feeling that she was being given the support to heal, whereas her own daughter wasn’t. After finishing this I found myself reading about Alice online, the inquest and what her family had to say.

A poignant book that’s needed now more than ever. Alice deserved better, we need to do better for her trans community and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. Kudos to Litman for penning such an emotional tribute to her daughter.

What a beautify coming from a loving mother about their child. I couldn’t get through it without tearing up over and over. It is a story that will stick with you forever.