The Glass Trumpet
By Mark Cairns
340 pages perfect bound paperback
High gloss laminated and embossed cover
ISBN: 9780955861505
Publisher: Scorpio Eye Press, London, England
British writer and music photographer Mark Cairns offers up his first novel this year and it's chock-full of jazz. The Glass Trumpet paints a vivid picture of post war London, from its bomb-sites to its underworld club scene in this noir-ish coming of age thriller. Cairns puts ideas about identity, creativity and provenance into an adventure setting that aims to keep readers hooked and pages turning.
“I set out to write a teenage book with crossover potential but most of my readers seem to be adults," he said in a recent interview. “The teens like the fast pace but the older readers go for the evocation of a lost London, and Jim's journey often seems to inspire tears, though so far it's only the women readers who will admit to that!"
Cairns worked with British trumpeter and commentator Digby Fairweather and jazz writer Dave Gelly on getting the music right. “Jazz people know their music so well I didn't dare wing it. Improvisation may be the order of the day while playing jazz but woe betide those who make it up as they go along while writing about it!," he said.
An early draft was also appraised by veteran British sax legend Don Rendell, who, after reading a flash-back scene in the book, called Cairns up to ask if he had been in the war. “In fact I was born in 1958, the year the story happens but it's nice to know you caught the tone of the times," said the author.
Lino-cut style cover illustrations and chapter heads compliment the 50's feel and the book comes with a beautifully embossed cover. “I love books as objects, as possessions. Whatever you offer your reader's minds, there should always be something to touch and see as well, that's what I've always felt," Cairns says.
About Mark Cairns
Born in Kent, the year that The Glass Trumpet is set, Cairns grew up in Belgium, New York and London. He has been, over the years; fruit-picker, factory worker, motorcycle courier, film examiner, pop photographer and Internet entrepreneur. He wrote The Glass Trumpet, his first novel, while recovering from a major operation in 2005 and currently lives in north London with his partner Diane and their four boys.
The book will be on Amazon shortly but signed copies are available for the same price from the book's own website, theglasstrumpet.com. There is also a CD soundtrack available of all the music mentioned in the book.
Praise for The Glass Trumpet
“Right up to its explosive climax The Glass Trumpet is an imaginative mix of fantasy and action, leavened with jazz-fact and well suited to readers of all ages." --Digby Fairweather, Jazz trumpeter and commentator
“Convincingly set in mid-1950s London and southern England, The Glass Trumpet is a tale of mystery, jazz and growing up that holds the reader in an ever-tightening grip to the very last page." --Dave Gelly, The Observer
By Mark Cairns
340 pages perfect bound paperback
High gloss laminated and embossed cover
ISBN: 9780955861505
Publisher: Scorpio Eye Press, London, England
British writer and music photographer Mark Cairns offers up his first novel this year and it's chock-full of jazz. The Glass Trumpet paints a vivid picture of post war London, from its bomb-sites to its underworld club scene in this noir-ish coming of age thriller. Cairns puts ideas about identity, creativity and provenance into an adventure setting that aims to keep readers hooked and pages turning.
“I set out to write a teenage book with crossover potential but most of my readers seem to be adults," he said in a recent interview. “The teens like the fast pace but the older readers go for the evocation of a lost London, and Jim's journey often seems to inspire tears, though so far it's only the women readers who will admit to that!"
Cairns worked with British trumpeter and commentator Digby Fairweather and jazz writer Dave Gelly on getting the music right. “Jazz people know their music so well I didn't dare wing it. Improvisation may be the order of the day while playing jazz but woe betide those who make it up as they go along while writing about it!," he said.
An early draft was also appraised by veteran British sax legend Don Rendell, who, after reading a flash-back scene in the book, called Cairns up to ask if he had been in the war. “In fact I was born in 1958, the year the story happens but it's nice to know you caught the tone of the times," said the author.
Lino-cut style cover illustrations and chapter heads compliment the 50's feel and the book comes with a beautifully embossed cover. “I love books as objects, as possessions. Whatever you offer your reader's minds, there should always be something to touch and see as well, that's what I've always felt," Cairns says.
About Mark Cairns
Born in Kent, the year that The Glass Trumpet is set, Cairns grew up in Belgium, New York and London. He has been, over the years; fruit-picker, factory worker, motorcycle courier, film examiner, pop photographer and Internet entrepreneur. He wrote The Glass Trumpet, his first novel, while recovering from a major operation in 2005 and currently lives in north London with his partner Diane and their four boys.
The book will be on Amazon shortly but signed copies are available for the same price from the book's own website, theglasstrumpet.com. There is also a CD soundtrack available of all the music mentioned in the book.
Praise for The Glass Trumpet
“Right up to its explosive climax The Glass Trumpet is an imaginative mix of fantasy and action, leavened with jazz-fact and well suited to readers of all ages." --Digby Fairweather, Jazz trumpeter and commentator
“Convincingly set in mid-1950s London and southern England, The Glass Trumpet is a tale of mystery, jazz and growing up that holds the reader in an ever-tightening grip to the very last page." --Dave Gelly, The Observer
For more information contact All About Jazz.
