Trumpet by Jackie Kay


I’m still in a very emotional state. I finished the audio book of Jackie Kay’s trumpet only a few minutes ago and can’t imagine that it will leave me anytime soon. I had never heard of the book before it was selected as one of the Books of the Month in the book group I belong to on Goodreads. A friend, who has very discerning literary tastes, recommended it and, after reading the summary, I knew I would read it regardless of the place it took in the voting.

At the center of Trumpet is Joss Moody, a famous jazz man, who upon his death was discovered to have been a woman. Joss leaves behind his widow, Millie, and his son, Colman who both grieve in their own ways. Only Millie knew Joss’ secret so you can imagine the shock that everyone else felt. Except for Colman, whose shock was accompanied by anger, hurt, and betrayal.

Jackie Kay’s writing is just wonderful. She gives each character a voice that feels strong and true and my emotions went in so many different directions that I feel raw having spent about four hours with the story today. I chose to experience Trumpet by listening to the unabridged audio book and I highly recommend it. The narrator, Cathleen McCarron, brought so much to the story that I couldn’t imagine feeling the same level of emotion if I had read the words on the page. She made me believe that it was truly Millie sharing her memories and love and heartache with me directly; like she was looking me in the eye and telling me her secrets.

I don’t want to say too much about the book but I will tell you that I recommend it and I hope you’ll give it a try. Some of my friends said they were having a hard time getting into it but from the first few minutes, I was hooked. This is one that I’ll read (listen to) again.

Click here to purchase or download a sample of Trumpet from Amazon.

If you’re not already an Audible.com member, click on the link below and sign up for a trial and get this book as your free download. You can cancel your membership at anytime and, if Trumpet isn’t something you enjoy, you can return it, no questions asked, and pick something else. But I’m betting you’ll enjoy it.

Try Audible Now and Get A FREE Audiobook!

5 comments

    • I hope you like it, Baxter. I had my heart set on the audio book and the library only had print. Luckily, I had a few audible credits available. Maybe I’ll give the print (ebook) version a shot for the re-read.

  1. […] C-Spot Reviews covered the audio version of Jackie Kay‘s Trumpet. The novel centres on Joss Moody, a famous jazz man, who was discovered to be a woman on his death. He left behind a widow, Millie, and a son who had only known Joss as a man and his father. The award-winning novel has long been critically acclaimed and this is what C-spot had to say of the audio version: “Jackie Kay’s writing is just wonderful. She gives each character a voice that feels strong and true and my emotions went in so many different directions that I feel raw having spent about four hours with the story today. I chose to experience Trumpet by listening to the unabridged audio book and I highly recommend it. The narrator, Cathleen McCarron, brought so much to the story that I couldn’t imagine feeling the same level of emotion if I had read the words on the page.” The rest of the review is available here. […]

Leave a Reply to Beni GeeCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.