Greta Wegener, an artist, has her husband Einar pose for her in women's clothing which eventually leads him to seek and successfully undergo sex reassignment surgery.

"Often tragic, but lacking in despair, The Rose City delves into the tribulations of everyday life, identity, and sexuality. Each story is about someone from or moving to Pasadena, a part of California, as the character in the title story says, "where the real history is." In "Chuck Paa," a young man in flight from his misdemeanant mother seeks and finds employment in an upscale world that can never quite become his own. In the title story, "The...