About Us

I felt off. I couldn’t put my finger on it but SOMETHING was different. I decided to go for a walk to clear my head.
It was the middle of winter, everyone was bundled up in coats and pants so I didn’t notice anything amiss at first. I passed a group of laborer’s clearing snow on the sidewalk and noticed they were all women. That was a little interesting but nothing very out of the realm of possibility. I passed a billboard. I couldn’t tell what it was advertising, it just had a mostly naked man on it. I saw a group of construction workers through a window and couldn’t help but notice their long hair. They were also all women. Again I got that strange gnawing feeling one gets when you are in an unfamiliar place, though I was still in the same town I grew up in… but hey, maybe more women are getting into labor intensive jobs?
I decided to grab a coffee to wake me from this dreamlike feeling. Before I could enter the café, I held the door open for a young man who was just stepping out (because my parents raised me to be polite to EVERYONE) and he smiled at me and said "Thank you! and they say women aren’t chivalrous anymore" he winked at me and went on his way. …Okay, I’ve never gotten a response like that before, but I thought he must be joking? Still though… that wink… I had to shake the blush out of my cheeks. There was something about him, his whole vibe was different to what I’m used to coming from a man, but I couldn’t place it. As I waited for my order, I saw a couple canoodling by the window, the man sitting in his girlfriend’s lap.

I saw a group of teenaged boys with painted nails, giggling together and drinking an assortment of colorful cold drinks. I saw a woman police officer grabbing a black coffee. And finally, my eyes rested on a woman reading a book. The title read "The Countess of Monte Crista".

Okay, I had to see what that was about. But when I asked her about it, she looked at me like I was an alien… or stupid. She was surprised I had never heard about it, assured me it was a classic, and that it was published in 1844 by ALEXANDRA Dumas. She had no idea what I meant by “The COUNT of Monte CRISTO”. At that point, I was really starting to consider a ridiculous explanation for all of this.
Did I… really shift realities into another world??

I grabbed my coffee and rushed home. I have that book in my bookcase. I never got around to actually reading it, but I KNOW I do. I flew upstairs and scanned the worn spines of my novels until I saw it. “the Countess of Monte Crista”. That wasn’t all… I saw Little Men, Petra Pan, Alister’s Adventures in Wonderland, John Eyre, Emmet, Olivia Twist, Moby-Dixie, Countess Dracula, Victoria Frankinstein, Anthone of Green Gables, it kept going!

How was this possible??? I checked the bottom of the bookcase but the portal was gone. I had to accept the insane truth that I had fallen into another world… and as far as I knew, I was stuck there.

Initially I was worried that I would be out of place, since all these famous authors have their opposite gender counterparts, I thought that would mean that I would be a man in this world… but none of my family batted an eye to me, and they were physically unchanged as well (personality-wise, though, I could hardly recognize them. But who they are at their core remained unchanged). About half of my friends were the same gender as my world and half had changed. I have no idea why. Maybe I glitched something in the matrix during my fall.

At first, I thought I was adjusting remarkably well under the circumstances. Turns out being a woman in this world came way easier to me than being a woman in my previous world… until I had one very rude awakening. One night, when I was walking back home from doing research at the library, I noticed a man walking ahead of me. His demeanor suddenly changed. He became stiff, he kept glancing back, quickened his pace, his hand shifted in his pocket and I heard the jingle of keys. I looked around to see what might be making him so nervous but couldn’t see anything, it was just us. “Well, if it isn’t the little gentlewoman!” someone called. I turned around to the voice. It was the guy from the coffee shop! I looked back at the man one last time, just to make sure he was okay and saw that he seemed to relax before he disappeared from sight. Me and Coffee Shop Guy started walking together, introducing ourselves. His name was Briar. He said he was named after “Briar Rose” from the Sisters Grimm fairytale about a prince being woken up from his cursed slumber by a princess’ kiss. At some point during our walk I mentioned my observation of the nervous man and asked about the safety of the area. He looked me up and down “You aren’t from around here, are you? This planet, I mean” he laughed. I nervously asked him what he meant. I’ve been trying to keep my whole “from another dimension" thing a secret. Then it hit me. Back where I come from, I have never been considered intimidating. I can’t imagine someone ever being afraid of me… but here, things are different… I could be perceived as a serious threat. I suddenly felt guilty, thinking that I had made someone feel so uncomfortable. He saw the guilt in my face and assured me I did nothing wrong, but advised that next time I should cross the street if I can. Without thinking, I asked if he would be willing to teach me more about this world… and to my surprise, he accepted! Didn’t even question me when I said “this world”. I couldn’t tell if he just found me amusing or took pity on me like a lost puppy. We were about to part ways when he suddenly said “what kind of gentlewoman doesn’t walk a lord home?” he teased. I asked “We just met, do you really want to lead me to your house?”. He smiled “you learn fast”, he said “But I like you, so I can give you the honor of being my escort” and he gave me his notorious wink. Before I left him at his doorstep, he gave me his number and I walked off with a new pep in my step.

He really was one of a kind.

I spent the next 4 months learning as much as I could about this strange yet familiar world and amassed myself quite the collection of even MORE books. You see, stories are like time capsules. They hold the thoughts, feelings and experiences of people who have lived hundreds, even thousands of years ago. So, they were an extremely useful resource to me!

I would ask Briar to come with me to museums, galleries, science centres and historical sites. He would always, with his mischievous smile and a tilt of his head, ask “like a date?”. He taught me a lot about social etiquette and his experience living as a man in a woman’s world. He had lofty goals and dreams that were going to be more difficult for him because of those invisible obstacles (which I won’t share because they are very personal). He held my hand as I stumbled through my new role and I was there for him as well. Once, when he heard strange noises outside his home, he called me at 1 A.M. and said he would feel safer with a woman he trusts in the house… and you KNOW I rushed right over! That’s not something I could ever imagine hearing someone say where I come from. He’s always so confident and fearless, it was new to see his vulnerable side… this might come as a shock, but I’ve never had a crush before… so this was new for me too…

And yes, I did spend the night, but nothing happened! Get your mind out of the gutter! My intentions were pure!

I was able to learn so much during my time there, but I’m not a doctor. Not a scientist. Not a historian. Not an evolutionary biologist. All the information I’ve been able to compile are the observations and theories of a regular person doing her best. There’s so much about this world that even I still don’t understand and can’t answer. The bulk of my information comes from travelling around going to different museums, asking a lot of questions, and Briar.

One day, I saw the light glowing from within my bookcase again. I moved my books aside to investigate. This time… I hesitated. But it was too late. Another blinding light… and then I was back in our world. Everything was back to normal… except for one thing….
All of the books on my bookcase had changed. They had all been replaced with the opposite versions I had in the other world.
Since that day, my bookcase has never opened up again. I don’t know if it ever will. I can’t help but think about Briar… will the version of me in that world remember our time together? Will she seek him out? And what about here? There must be another version of him here, going by another name, living a different life, raised a different way, but still the same at his core. I believe that he is out there somewhere, perhaps feeling as out of place as I do. With these contrary books it feels like I still have a piece of that universe with me. They have brought me endless joy and comfort.

…….. ANYWAY… before I get too sappy, now I am sharing these stories with you. I hope they bring you the same joy, I hope they make you feel represented, and I hope they make you do a little giggle every now and then and provide you with hours of escapism and entertainment.

Welcome to the world of Contrary Classics!

I hope you enjoy your time being a classic contrarian!