The central metaphor of
The Unfinished Dollhouse
tells the story: on Frankie's fourth birthday, her parents Michelle and Rob purchased a dollhouse kit. Michelle imagined the time she and her daughter would spend constructing the perfect dollhouse, a fantasy of domestic and familial happiness. But Frankie expressed no interest in such typically girlish pursuits because Frankie was transgendered.
In the years to follow, Frankie's parents experienced an education in parenting a child transitioning from female to male, learning how to deal with Frankie and the rest of the world's reaction.