Library Journal First novelist Skibsrud takes a poignant look at family, focusing mainly on Napoleon Haskell, his adult daughter, and Henry, father to a young man Napoleon served with in Vietnam. These three live in Henry's house in Canada as a sort of makeshift family. When Napoleon's daughter first comes to live with him and Henry after a relationship ends badly, she finds out much more about the father she hardly knew while growing up. And she begins to understand who Henry is and why he has a connection to her own family. She also learns that her father's alcoholism is much more progressed than she'd originally thought. And she begins to figure out the identity of the mysterious Owen, Henry's son, and why Henry feels indebted to her father because of him. With flashbacks to Vietnam and heartfelt recollections of the daughter's own childhood, the narrative shows Napoleon slowly letting his daughter in on deep secrets of his life. VERDICT A quick and satisfying read; recommended for most public libraries and reading groups that have an interest in books about familial relationships.-Leann Restaino, Girard, OH (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Publishers Weekly

When I read a book that has won a weighty award like the Giller Prize (and has made it to the finals in at least four other major literary competitions), I expect to be completely consumed by it. Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, however, fell short of my expectations. Every time I picked up the book, I felt more like I was doing homework than eagerly returning to a captivating story. Frankly, when the book's due date at the library arrived, I considered returning it without having finished it - but it irks me to do this, so I held onto it for two extra days to finish it. I convinced myself that since the bulk of the book's plot had plodded along, the ending must surely be astonishing. It was not. It was like the author got to the end of her manuscript and simply didn't know how to wrap it up. I don't mind open endings, but this one was so unconvincing, it was disappointing. So I'm left wondering why this book was selected for the Giller. I think perhaps it's the IDEA in the book - the story of a group of people missing from the pages of history - that appealed to the judges. I've read many novels about marginalized characters living in the anxious days leading up to September 1939, but have never before considered it from the perspective of Edugyan's characters. This was interesting. The dialect of the jazz musicians and their particular jargon was used expertly by the writer; she does indeed have skill in weaving words together. However, I wouldn't agree with the rave reviews on the back of the novel which compare her writing to a musical masterpiece - it's good, but not great. I struggled to "get to know" the characters in the novel. Most of them were developed only skeletally, and then in the middle of the novel, when it was critical to know who Ernst or Fritz or Paul was, I found myself having to flip back through the pages for clarification. I was also puzzled as to whether or not this was supposed to be a book about redemption. The narrator struggles with the betrayal of a friend for fifty years but I'm not certain that he has redeemed himself at the end - more importantly, I'm not certain he's even seeking redemption. I enjoy novels that leave me thinking, but this one just left me confused.

for all the hype, unfortunately, very unsatisfying.....Sid's observations were not believable.....did like some of the phrases describing jazz.....overall, nice try but no "standard'.....

Overall I enjoyed this book and I'm glad I read it, but I feel like it didn't really conclude. Maybe that's what Edugyan intended, but I wasn't completely satisfied. Granted, parts of the book were fantastic and I enjoyed the experience.

It's a rare work of art in which form and content meet; it's rarer still when they jump off the page and dance. I will confess I don't have an iPod or a collection of music either on a shelf or a hard drive. When I run, I listen for dogs and cars. But when the credits to Saturday Night Live role, it's an effort not too weep at the sax and the clarinet showing off for the keyboard. I know little about music, but it doesn't just touch me, it has the capacity to hurt and heal at the same time. At the start of Half-Blood Blues I struggled a bit with the dialect and the author's insistence that I think, that I put 2 and 2 together for myself. By the end, without closing my eyes to the heartbreaking drama unfolding in front of me, I could hear the music not just in Edugyan's descriptions but in the voices of her characters, in the form of the novel. That's something. At the end of a performance like that you dry your eyes and know you've been in the presence of something great. The story is beautifully put together; that is, the workmanship shows. This is a blues song in form. But the thing that makes it sing without sound waves, that has to be magic.

I thought this a mediocre book and don't understand all the hype over it. It is written entirely in the patois of a black Baltimore jazz musician which gets tiresome very quickly. There is not much of a plot and the characterizations are weak. The ending was quite touching though.

I enjoyed this novel about jazz singers in Berlin and Paris during the second world war. An interesting perspective on that horrible time, when every choice could mean the difference between life and death.

um i think elinpat's comment is in the wrong spot. I would rate this novel as just OK. It really seems to build up to not much at the end and the voice of Sidney struck me as hit or miss. I liked the setting and the concept of the book though-- a different take on the war story. I haven't been that impressed with the last few Giller prize winners I've read. Anybody agree?

Wow such a great book. A very different perspective WW II. I loved all the jazz references and her writing was a very effective tool that took you to an older place and time.

It took me a few dozen pages to find the rhythm of this novel, but once I found the groove, I enjoyed it very much. Edugyan paints a realistic picture of the depths people will sink when driven by selfishness and jealousy, as well as the power and release wrought by forgiveness.