Twelve Bar Blues — Patrick Neate

The raucous novel that won the prestigious Whitbread Novel, Award, Twelve Bar Blues is a virtuoso epic tale of fate and family, jazz and juju that spans three continents and two centuries to tell a story of enduring roots and indelible love. At it heart is Lick Holden, a talented but tormented young musician who sets the jazz scene of early-twentieth4entury New Orleans on fire with the passionate tones of his cornet. But Lick's true passion is for his beautiful lost stepsister Sylvie, whom he searches for among the streets, music halls, and bordellos of the South. Their story reverberates through the decades into the life of Sylvia Di Napoli, a former prostitute turned singer who travels from London to New York to Chicago in 1999 in search of the answer to the mystery of her family's roots. Twelve Bar Blues is a dynamic novel with all the emotional energy and breakneck tempo of a red-hot Big Easy jazz band that will hook you--like a favorite tune-- until the very last page.