Becoming Janice is a queer coming-of-age story, focusing on the titular Janice who moves from New Zealand to London to Amsterdam to discover herself and find love.

The book opens in London, where Janice is nurturing a broken heart and scraping by in a dilapidated share-house. After an incident with one of her male roommates, Janice heads for Amsterdam. Set in the 1980s, the city’s vibrant gay scene is practically a character itself.

She finds an entry level job, lucks into a rented room and falls in love. The feelings are unrequited and a heart-broken Janice finds solace in another transplant to the Netherlands.

The vibrant colours of the book’s cover reflect the community in which Janice lands when she arrives in the capital city. Poetry readings, plays and evenings in cafes showcase the best Amsterdam has to offer.

Published in 2024, the book is set in 1979 and 1980. The setting is historic but much about the city feels modern. Janice doesn’t call anyone on a cell phone but she struggles to master cycling, the Dutch language and finding affordable housing — all complaints internationals would find familiar.

Janice is young and just finding her way in the world. She makes choices the reader finds frustrating and at times lacks emotional maturity. As the year progresses, she finds her footing and herself.

Like the work’s main character, author Ragini Werner moved from New Zealand to London and then Amsterdam. As with Janice, she carries a Dutch passport but had never lived in the country and didn’t feel “Dutch.”

“I arrived in Amsterdam on my birthday in 1980 and knew the name of one cafe so I went there. I asked them if they knew where I could stay and they pointed me to a student hostel. I’ve been in the Netherlands ever since,” she told Dutch News in an interview earlier this year.

It’s a charming coming-of-age story set in a well-rendered Amsterdam. You can get a copy of Becoming Janice on the author’s website.