The Vanishing Half: A Novel

In 1982, Jude is in her senior year at UCLA. She’s applied to medical school and is nervously waiting to see if she’s been accepted while working as a waitress in a Korean restaurant. She and Reese are still together, but they’ve moved into a cheaper apartment in Korea Town. Reese hasn’t yet been able to scrape together enough money for his sex-change operation.

On the night when Jude thought she spotted her aunt, she was fired from her catering job for spilling red wine on an expensive carpet. Ever since, she’s been haunted by the notion that the woman might have been Stella. One night, Jude and Reese are given tickets for a play in which Barry has a role in the chorus. Needing a night out after working so hard, the two dress up and head to the theater. The lead in the play turns out to be the girl who might be Stella’s daughter.

Jude goes out of her way to cultivate an acquaintance with Kennedy Sanders. The latter says her parents hate the idea that she’s become an actress and would never come to see her perform. One night, Jude is helping Kennedy get into her costume and starts questioning the girl about her mother.