Half-Blood Blues

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Half-Blood Blues
ISBN
9781846687754

Half-Blood Blues (styled without the hyphen in the UK edition) is a

Nazi ideology and is essentially lost to history. Some of his music survives, however, and half a century later, fans of Falk discover his forgotten story.[3]

Background

Half-Blood Blues is Edugyan’s second novel. It was first released in the

Thomas Allen Publishers stepped in and released the first printing in August 2011, several months behind schedule.[4] By the year's end, Half-Blood Blues was highly acclaimed, and had garnered prestigious literary awards.[5]

Synopsis

The book follows a jazz bassist named Sidney "Sid" Griffiths and his

Rhineland Bastard") like Hiero Falk can be arrested and simply disappear, lost to history. Juxtaposed against this is another narrative, set in 1992. Sid and Chip re-unite and travel back to Berlin for the screening of the documentary about Hiero Falk, and in which both Sid and Chip appear. Watching their life on the big screen turns out to be somewhat different from what they expected, and the mysterious letter that Chip has received leads them to another journey, across countries, time, and their own emotions.[3][6]

Reception

Paste Magazine called the book "an improbable but gripping tale",[6] while Quill & Quire called it a "ballsy narrative; ... brave, explosive, ... and too rare."[3] Donna Bailey Nurse in a review for The Globe and Mail said Half-Blood Blues "can be compared to a jazz symphony with discrete movements, shifting moods and a complex chorus of human and instrumental voice", and concluded by describing it as a "brilliantly conceived, gorgeously executed novel. It's a work that promises to lead black literature in a whole new direction."[7]

The novel was selected for inclusion in the 2014 edition of CBC Radio's Canada Reads, where it was defended by Donovan Bailey.

Awards and honours

Half-Blood Blues won the prestigious

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Goodreads, Half-Blood Blues, Book review, Retrieved December 10, 2012
  2. ^ Esi Edugyan Retrieved December 31, 2012
  3. ^ a b c d Wiersema, Robert, November 2011, Half-Blood Blues, Quill & Quire, Book review. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  4. ^ a b Blues’ dues: Esi Edugyan’s second novel went from shelved to success Archived 2013-01-29 at archive.today
  5. ^ Woods, Stuart, November 9, 2011Edugyan’s unpredictable year culminates in Giller win Archived 2012-07-05 at the Wayback Machine, Quill & Quire. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Al-Shawaf, Rayyan, May 15, 2012, Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan : "Lady sings the Half-Blood Blues", Paste Magazine. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  7. ^ Donna Bailey Nurse, "Half-Blood Blues, by Esi Edugyan", Globe & Mail, September 9, 2011.

External links

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