Reviews

"A brilliantly conceived, gorgeously executed novel."

"Half Blood Blues itself represents a kind of flowering - that of a gifted storyteller"

"Half Blood Blues shines with knowledge, emotional insight, and historical revisionism, yet it never becomes over-burdened by its research. The novel is truly extraordinary in its evocation of time and place, its shimmering jazz vernacular, its pitch-perfect male banter and its period slang. Edugyan never stumbles with her storytelling, not over one sentence."

"Half-Blood Blues is impressively evocative of period and place, and an effortlessly involving and dramatically unusual second novel"

"A superbly atmospheric prologue kick-starts a thrilling story about truth and betrayal... [A] brilliant, fast-moving novel."

"With Half-Blood Blues, Esi Edugyan has written a truly beautiful novel. With perfect pitch, and brilliantly in tune with the diction, musicality, suffering and dignity of Black jazz musicians trying to survive in France and Germany during World War Two, and to hold their lives together in the aftermath of horror. It is both taut and expansive, like great jazz. Exquisite language, throughout. And did I say beautiful?"

"The characters in Esi Edugyan's stunning novel bring to mind Mark Twain who understood characters like these... the language of Edugyan's narrative moves us with its intrinsic power, grace, and soulful jazz cadences. Half Blood Blues is an engrossing and unforgettable story."

"Simply stunning, one of the freshest pieces of fiction I've read. A story I'd never heard before, told in a way I'd never seen before. I felt the whole time I was reading it like I was being let in on something, the story of a legend deconstructed. It's a world of characters so realized that I found myself at one point looking up Hieronymous Falk on Wikipedia, disbelieving he was the product of one woman's imagination"

"Half-Blood Blues offers a gripping and original portrait of the stateless, those "lost in the dark maw of history," but whose stories are proving ever more crucial for citizens today. Yet, for me, the real allure of the novel is the mongrel and enduring beauty of its language. Like a gifted Jazz performer, Esi Edugyan knows how to make new phrasings and cadences hit big upon the heart."

"[The Second Life of Samuel Tyne] balances the brilliance and audacity of youthful enthusiasm with sage awareness. It's an impressive debut... a beautifully written novel of mounting isolation, violence and loss, the legacy of family and of culture, of wisdom hard-won and tragic. It's hard to believe it's a first novel. "

"Every now and again a voice emerges from the chatter and hype, an old familiar voice from a young hand, a voice that has you nodding with appreciation, marveling at the maturity of craft and assurance. It is the kind of talent that makes you burn with envy."

"Edugyan's elegiac, shimmering prose makes up for the lack of sunny skies in this impressively conceived and well-executed debut."

"Edugyan's spare prose, visceral images, and unfussy dialogue create a suitably ominous atmosphere... The close,...stark in its avoidance of redemptive bromides, is astonishingly moving. A talented writer to watch."

"[P]acks a powerful emotional punch... Fine writing, subtle characterisation and a convincing portrayal of place and period mark out this engaging first work, reminiscent of early VS Naipaul."

"In this brilliantly written debut novel, Edugyan flawlessly creates and maintains a pervasive sense of hope loneliness, foreboding and futility."

"An assured and insightful first novel of displacement of fractured identity....This deftly constructed tale...of one tiny, befuddled corner of the African diaspora is finally about all of us - about the hope we have of being our best selves, before it's too late."

"Edugyan's language is supple, wry and at turns sensuous. This intricately worked narrative heralds an excellent new voice."

"Prepare to meet Maud and Samuel Tyne, two of the most complex, contradictory, frustrating, appealing and heart-breaking characters you're likely to find between covers. Prepare to worry about them, cheer for them, defend them, even to love them -- while wanting to knock their heads together or give them a good shake. This husband and wife are so real you think you ought to get to Alberta fast and try to save them from themselves. But first you'd have to save them from their terrifying daughters."

"Esi Edugyan's has written a moving and brilliant novel. Both familiar and exotic, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne is in some ways a compassionate second chance for us all."