The novel starts soon after Joss Moody's funeral. It is mostly set in London in 1997. We find out that Joss was a legendary British jazz trumpet player. His wife Millie is mourning him. We find out that Joss was biologically a woman and the only person who knew before he died was Millie. The novel is told from the perspective of his wife and people who didn't know such as a doctor, a registrar, the funeral director, fellow jazz musicians, their adopted son Colman, a reporter, etc. Their reactions are all different.
The doctor, registrar and funeral director have to find a way to digest what they have never come across before. The fellow jazz musicians don't care and indicate that the music was the important part. Colman didn't know until he was told by the funeral director and feels betrayed that he was never told. His father has left him a letter that he refuses to open. This leads him to accept a tabloid reporter's offer to write a book about his father. As time goes on, Colman begins to doubt the motivations (the reporter's and his) behind the book. In seeking answers about his father's life, he finds out that Joss's mother is still alive and goes to visit her. Will he come to peace with who his father was and open the letter?
This novel won the 1998 Guardian Fiction prize and was inspired by the real life of jazz musician Billy Tipton.
I thought this novel was good but I was also unsatisfied. On one hand, I realize it was meant to be mostly told from the perspectives of others but the lack of Joss's perspective left me with too many unanswered questions. Maybe that was the point.
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