Half-Blood Blues

By Esi Edugyan,

Book cover of Half-Blood Blues

Book description

Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize

Man Booker Prize Finalist 2011
An Oprah Magazine Best Book of the Year

Shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction

Berlin, 1939. The Hot Time Swingers, a popular jazz band, has been forbidden to play by the Nazis. Their young trumpet-player Hieronymus…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked Half-Blood Blues as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love untold stories – those that look at people who history has often ignored. There are a lot of novels set in WWII, but this is the only one I’ve read that looks at what it was like to be an Afro-German during that period.

Hiero Falk is a mixed-race jazz trumpeter, member of a band who has been banned from playing live under Nazi laws. After escaping with two of his African-American bandmates to Paris, Hiero is forced into hiding as the trio struggle to get out of occupied France. There was so much history here that felt…

From Louise's list on capturing the magic of jazz.

Want books like Half-Blood Blues?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Half-Blood Blues.

Browse books like Half-Blood Blues

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in jazz musicians, musicians, and Berlin?

Jazz Musicians 37 books
Musicians 51 books
Berlin 111 books