The novel begins just after the main character, Joss Moody, a famous jazz trumpeter, passes away. After his death, it is revealed that his biological sex was female, causing a news rush and attracting paparazzi, leading his widow, Millie, to flee to a vacation home. The truth was unknown to anyone except Millie; the Moodys lived their life as a normal married couple with a normal house and a normal family, and not even Coleman, their adopted son, knew the truth. When Joss dies and the truth is revealed, Coleman's shock spills into bitterness and he seeks revenge. He vents his rage about his father's lie by uncovering Joss's life to Sophie, an eager tabloid journalist craving to write the next bestseller. After time, and a visit to Joss's mother Edith Moore, Coleman eventually finds love for his father muddled together with his rage. With his new-found acceptance of both his father and himself, Colman decides not to follow through with the book deal. All the while, Millie deals with her grief and the scandal in private turmoil at the Moodys' vacation home, and a variety of characters whose paths have crossed with Joss's give accounts of their memories and experiences. Each character aside from Sophie appears to either accept Joss's identity or regard it as irrelevant.
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