9/50: Trumpet by Jackie Kay

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Trumpet is a novel told in short stories about the aftermath of the death of Joss Moody, famous black, male trumpet player, who is revealed after dying to be a female. The story deals with issues of identity in many ways - gender and sex, obviously, but also race, adoption, immigration, even being Scottish in London, and the outsider effect of being a musician, and a famous musician's son. The story principally follows Joss' adopted, mixed race son Colman and his white widow, Millie; Colman is trying to reconcile his father's hidden identity, and Millie is, very movingly, trying to come to terms with her grief while being besieged about the revelations about Joss. There are some terrific cameos as well by other characters who interact with these events; for example, the old housekeeper and later, Edith, who are both beautifully drawn. Kay has an amazing talent for creating these very stylized characters who leap off the page at you, vividly described.

I tend to enjoy the style of storytelling used here, and write it myself, but in a way the novel does suffer from the fact the plot is all reactionary; Joss is dead when the book opens, and though he gets to narrate a chapter, for a lot of the book I felt I enjoyed the characters but we weren't really building to any plot climax, and a bit of plot is a lovely thing! However, in a way it was nice to merely enjoy the stories, and the end did come together quite satisfyingly, without ever offering any pat answers, which it couldn't, not when dealing with such deep issues. Overall, this was enjoyable and thought-provoking.

There is one thing I did want to ask of anyone who might have read the book - but this is spoilery, so I'll cut it!

At the end - do you think Colman told Edith the truth about Joss? I can't decide which way would make me happier. I found Edith an absolutely tragic figure; it's clear she loved her daughter and never could understand why her daughter had, essentially, abandoned her. She was also an interesting counterpoint to Joss, who was generally presented in a very positive light; sure, the revelations about his biological sex were shocking to Colman, but there's no real impact presented to his life lived as a man until we realize his mother was alive all along, and was left behind without being given a chance to understand why. It's sad and powerful and I wonder if it would be better if Colman told her, or if it's better not. Am interested in opinions on this!

Comments

[livii.livejournal.com]

Heh, sorry, I realized it came across kinda angry - I was just startled, because I loved Edith and never though her pathetic at all! :)

I am so out of it today; I changed it to female. I'm really big on sex/gender and for some reason still picked woman over female...man. Anyway, not derailing at all, it's an interesting thing to talk about!