Bellies by Nicola Dinan Review

Nicola Dinan's Bellies is a story of love, loss and transition, the novel follows the intertwining lives of Ming and Tom, starting where they meet at university, continuing to watch them change and grow both together and apart.

Dinan’s debut is a true mediation on the complexities of contemporary relationships, opening on the night Ming and Tom meet, Ming dressed in drag and Tom in plain clothes, highlighting the stark differences between Tom’s shy exterior and Ming’s flamboyance and charisma. As well as following Tom and Ming’s complicated first love, we meet Tom’s heterosexual best friend Rob, comfortable in tactility and expressing emotions, often seen massaging Tom’s feet on the sofa, rare behaviour in 21st century cis-het men. We also meet Sara, Tom’s ex-girlfriend, who remains a close friend to Tom who like him, has recently discovered her own homosexuality.

The novel is framed by its title Bellies, which we learn to be a metaphor for vulnerability, like an animal surrendering themselves by exposing their belly. We see the two protagonists’ most vulnerable moments when lying on one another’s bellies, or practicing ‘meisner technique’ – an acting exercise to help develop emotional intimacy, which sees two people mirroring and describing one another’s actions. The insights into vulnerability are heightened by the shift of narrative voice between Tom and Ming, Dinan giving us insight into both characters’ perspectives of shared experiences.

Further intimacy and vulnerability are explored on the couple’s visit to Ming’s home in Kuala Lumpur. Dinan gives us an insight into the merging of the couple’s lives in England and Kuala Lumpur, yet their time away is shrouded by the need to hide their sexuality in public for their own safety. This is exposed in instances such as Ming stiffening at Tom’s touch in a nightclub. Much like in Kuala Lumpur, as Ming starts her transition in the UK, we also see the dangers and difficulties faced by trans individuals every day. Ming is conscious of being perceived as ‘passing’ as a woman, self-consciously putting on a ‘corner shop voice’, or feeling threatened on public transport. In representing homosexual and trans lives, Dinan strikes the perfect chord between championing and romanticising her characters, as well as showing the difficulties such individuals face every day.

Having finished university, Ming and Tom move out together to Tom’s parents’ place in London. We see Tom battle with the tension between his job at the bank and his own values, and Ming’s struggle with play writing and understanding her own transition. We follow the complexities of true love and sexuality in the couples’ attempts to navigate their relationship whilst Ming transitions.

After breaking up, Ming puts on a play largely based on her experiences of transition and how this affected her relationship with Tom. This sees further distance created between Tom and Ming, as Tom watches the play, horrified at seeing damaging representations of him as unsupportive and often challenging during the transition.

As the two protagonists pursue separate lives, we see Ming move to New York to study creative writing, and Tom stay in his banking job, whilst also exploring modelling opportunities. As we might come to see Ming and Tom’s lives as separate, a tragedy occurs which brings the two back together, showing how love can truly persist, despite our flaws or difficulties we might face.

Dinan’s work is a masterpiece encapsulating modern sexuality, love, loss, transition, grief, mental health and more. Bellies is a truly triumphant mediation on navigating vulnerability and love through the complexities of coming of age and understanding your own identity.