{"product_id":"casa-susanna-by-isabelle-bonnet-9780500297902","title":"Casa Susanna","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrings together a wealth of research and an expansive selection of photographs to create an enduring account of America's first known trans network, \u003ci\u003eCasa Susanna\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the 1950s and 60s, an underground network of transgender women and cross-dressing men found refuge at a modest house in the Catskills region of New York. Known as \u003ci\u003eCasa Susanna\u003c\/i\u003e, the house provided a safe place to express their true selves and live for a few days as they had always dreamed - dressed as and living as women without fear of being incarcerated or institutionalised for their self-expression.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis book opens up that now-lost world. The photographs - mostly discovered by chance in a New York flea market in 2004 - chronicle the experiences of men who dressed as women, gender nonconforming people, and transwomen in states of relaxation, experimentation, connection, and joy. All of this was made possible by Susanna Valenti who - on her own journey towards womanhood - created \u003ci\u003eCasa Susanna\u003c\/i\u003e, a protected space where others could crossdress and live freely as women. Supplementing the images are excerpts from \u003ci\u003eTransvestia\u003c\/i\u003e, a magazine that allowed those who had been cast out by a rigidly binary society to connect in a different medium.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe people who came to \u003ci\u003eCasa Susanna\u003c\/i\u003e found a spot where they could explore and celebrate their own and each other's femininity, as they could not do elsewhere. Their creations are also a reminder that there were, and still are, many ways to explore the boundaries of gender.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47430225789164,"sku":"9780500297902","price":110.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780500297902.jpg?v=1774559359","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/casa-susanna-by-isabelle-bonnet-9780500297902","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}