Both Eyes Book Blog

“Half Blood Blues”

Here is Esi Edugyan’s Half Blood Blues, the one book I didn’t correctly guess would make the Man Booker short list this year.  Now that I’ve read it, I can understand why it was picked, but I still don’t think I would have chosen it over The Stranger’s Child if I had it to do over again.

Half Blood Blues gives us a look at Nazi Germany from a perspective we most likely haven’t seen it before – that of American blacks and mixed-race Germans.  Added interest comes from Edugyan’s skilled evocation of pre-war jazz.  Friendship, rivalry, failed romance, and an unconventional beauty make this an interesting, unpredictable story.

I confess, though, that I found the dialect tiring to read.  While the plot was intriguing, it seemed like the most dramatic moments happened offstage.