From Weimar Berlin to the fall of Paris, & on to the present day, danger, jealousy & inspiration combine to tempt a man to a secret betrayal. Now a ” Radio 4 Book at Bedtime” scheduled for 27th June
- 8th July. Chip told us not to go out. Said, don`t you boys tempt the devil. But it been one brawl of a night, I tell you. The aftermath of the fall of Paris, 1940. Hieronymous Falk, a rising star on the cabaret scene, was arrested in a cafe & never heard from again. He was twenty years old. He was a German citizen. & he was black. Fifty years later, Sid, Hiero`s bandmate & the only witness that day, is going back to Berlin. Persuaded by his old friend Chip, Sid discovers there`s more to the journey than he thought when Chip shares a mysterious letter, bringing to the surface secrets buried since Hiero`s fate was settled. In ” Half Blood Blues”, Esi Edugyan weaves the horror of betrayal, the burden of loyalty & the possibility that, if you don`t tell your story, someone else might tell it for you. & they just might tell it wrong...