Half-Blood Blues

by Esi Edugyan

About the Book

Summer of Canadian Reading 2019

The brilliant, bestselling, Giller Prize–winning novel

Esi Edugyan’s Half-Blood Blues took the literary world by storm when it was first published, captivating readers and reviewers with its audacity, power, and sheer brilliance. The novel won or was nominated for every literary prize in Canada—and many international ones, too, including the prestigious Man Booker Prize. It was hailed as one of the best books of the year by Oprah, The Globe and Mail, Amazon, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Vancouver Sun, and it was named a New York TimesEditor’s Choice.

From the smoky bars of pre-war Berlin to the salons of Paris, the narrator of Half-Blood Blues, musician Sid Griffiths, leads the reader through a fascinating, little-known world and into the heart of his own guilty conscience. The bestselling, award-winning Half-Blood Blues is an entrancing, electric story about jazz, race, love and loyalty, and the sacrifices we ask of ourselves—and demand of others—in the name of art.

Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards

Booker Prize

BC Book Awards - Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

Governor General’s Literary Award

Orange Prize for Fiction

IMPAC Dublin Literary Award