Carrying by Josephs, Samantha

Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

She's serving.
She's eating.
She's . . . Carrying.

In this electrifying horror debut that's equal parts funny and harrowing, a stealth trans woman desperate to maintain her picture-perfect life discovers that she's seemingly--impossibly--pregnant.

Everything Martha's wanted, she's made for herself.

Meet Martha: perfect wife, perfect stepmother, perfect woman. She's got an adoring husband who wants more kids with her, a loving stepdaughter who looks up to her, and a body to die for. She's an absolute pro: Salon-quality blowouts at home? Done. Perfectly plated meals on the table every day? Effortless. Meticulously faked miscarriages so her husband won't suspect the truth? Just hand over the Oscar now.

Martha is trans, so stealth even her family has no idea. She carved the woman she is out of the marble of a boy, and she'll do whatever it takes to protect what she's built. When a mysterious chronic illness and its debilitating symptoms threaten to upend her existence, she starts experimental treatments and gives in to her surprising, unsettling cravings. She's even more shocked to discover that she's undeniably, impossibly pregnant.

With her body changing rapidly outside of her control and her choices dwindling, Martha struggles to maintain the life she's fought so hard to live while preparing for the motherhood she never thought she'd have.

Author: Samantha Josephs
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Published: 10/06/2026
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9798217180677

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/10/2026
Booklist 09/01/2026

About the Author
Samantha Josephs is a trans woman writer and semi-retired drag queen from New York City, now living in Los Angeles. A graduate of the University of Southern California's Writing for Screen and Television program, she's written for podcasts, video games, apps, and erotica. Carrying is her debut novel.