'I'd rather be a man,' cries Aline and leaps out of her skin to land in that of Lucien. She bids farewell instantly to her old self, who always did what her mother told her, even if she seethed with inward resentment. As for Lucien, he decamps from his body without complaining. Aline the hermaphrodite rechristens herself Orlanda and starts to let rip, propositioning middle-aged sugar daddies who like boys, while her sister-under-the-skin Aline carries on playing mistress to her live-in lover Albert. Getting rid of Lucien's clinging girlfriend and mother requires firmness if not tact. And while Aline explains to her lover that the boy (Aline/Orlanda) hanging about outside their window is a brother she's just discovered, she fears this is an excuse that won't hold up much longer. Jacqueline Harpman's playful novel of gender roles and reversals breathes life into its characters through wit and imagination.