![]() The pace picks up in the second half and it becomes much more engaging, but it was hard to get over apathy I felt at the beginning. ![]() ![]() The writing is an eclectic mix of southern dialect and elaborate metaphorical language. Of the two timelines, the one set in WWII is much more appealing. The first half is very slow in developing and contains many digressions. I like that it provides a different perspective on WWII, examining the experiences of black jazz musicians in Germany. The dramatic tension arises from the mystery of what happened to Hiero. This novel is primarily a story of friendship and jealousy. The 1992 timeline follows Sid and Chip as they travel to Europe to find out what happened to Hiero. The WWII timeline finds the Hot Time Swingers going underground due to jazz being banned, and they eventually flee to France, where they meet Louis Armstrong. It is told in dual alternating timelines – one set during WWII and the other in 1992. The story opens in occupied Paris in 1940, where Sid observes Hiero being taken away by the Nazis. To escape the Jim Crow laws, they travel to Germany, where they meet gifted mixed-race trumpet player Hieronymous (Hiero) Falk, and form a jazz band, the Hot Time Swingers. Narrator Sid Griffiths and his friend, Chip Jones, are black musicians from Baltimore. ![]()
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