Books like Trumpet by Jackie Kay
The novel centers on Joss Moody, an acclaimed jazz trumpeter whose sudden death exposes a concealed truth. His adopted son Colman, in his thirties, discovers that Joss lived as a cross‑dresser—a fact known to his wife Millie but hidden from the wider world. As Colman struggles to process this revelation, he teams up with a determined journalist to piece together Joss’s story. Millie, grieving and under intense media scrutiny, retreats to their Scottish home, seeking solace in memory. Through interwoven narrations—Colman’s search, Millie’s reflections, the drummer’s observations, the doctor’s discovery, the funeral director’s secrecy, the registrar’s paperwork, and the journalist’s inquiry—the book examines a complex, dazzling lie that shaped a family, a life, and an unshakable love.
First publish date: 1998
Genre: LGBTQ+ Fiction/Transgender Fiction
Authors: Jackie Kay
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