The Stranger Within

While The Stranger Within is undeniably a story about coming to terms with being transgender, I found I often identified with the struggles of both “Stacey” and “Jack.” I think we all have vulnerable aspects of ourselves that we are afraid to expose to public scrutiny. We have all experienced rejection and pretended to be something we weren’t to gain acceptance. I suspect we have all ached, at one time or another, to be different in some magical way other than how we are—smarter, taller, richer, wiser, funnier, prettier, healthier. In that sense, this story is everyone’s story. They both played the hand they were dealt, changed what could be changed, and accepted the rest. And did it with great flair.
Judith Skilling, Psy.D.