Ali Smith's "How to Be Both" is a masterful intertwining of two narratives that defy the constraints of time and identity. At one end of the spectrum is a Renaissance artist with a secret duality, living as both man and woman in the constrained society of 1460s Italy. At the other end is a modern English teenager, George, grappling with the loss of her mother and the void it created. Through a whimsical trip to Italy, George becomes entangled with the spirit of the past, embarking on a journey that questions the very fabric of gender, proximity, and the essence of being. Smith crafts a rich, time-bending tapestry that merges the historical with the modern, challenging the reader's preconceptions and playing with the structure of storytelling.