I admit to being unsure of this in the first few pages, as it's narrated in a very specific voice, but I got accustomed to it very quickly, and actually, it added a lot to the bluesy-jazzy feel of the book. It's the story of a group of young (mostly), black (mostly) jazz musicians (mostly) in Berlin and Paris right at the outset of WWII; of what happens to them, and of what happens fifty years later when some of them travel back to Europe (the narrator is originally from Balitmore and returns there after the war breaks out) for a commemorative Jazz Festival. I don't imagine there's anyone who reads who hasn't read at least one book dealing with Jewish experience during the second World War, and most readers have probably read something dealing with other European civilians or the resistance movements, or... Lord knows I've read loads of them (some very good, don't get me wrong). This was the first book I've read which addressed what it was like to be black in Germany at that time, so in addition to a very good story in other ways, I also was interested in that perspective. A great story.
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