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 its heart is Lick Holden, a talented but tormented young musician who sets the jazz scene of early-twentieth-century New Orleans on fire with the passionate tones of his coronet. But Lick's true passion is for his beautiful lost stepsister Sylvie, for 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 black English former prostitute turned singer who travels from London to New York and Chicago in 1999 in search of the answer to the mystery of her family's roots. Funny and poignant, 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.

"In the smoky haze of the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta, no one plays the cornet like Lick Holden. With a purity of tone and tenderness of phrasing, his music has a spirit and passion, artistry and sensuality that sets the jazz scene of early-twentieth-century New Orleans on fire. But he is a haunted man, aching for the love that has left him: the beautiful stepsister whom he searches for among the streets, dance halls, and bordellos of the South." "In 1999, Sylvia Di Napoli, a black English singer and former prostitute, is embarking on her own quest. She travels from London to America to find the answer to the mystery of her family's roots - a voyage that will lead her from Harlem to Chicago to New Orleans, revealing a romantic betrayal buried for generations, and culminating with the lifting of a long-cast African curse."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Spanning three continents and two centuries, Twelve Bar Blues is an epic tale of fate, family, friendship and jazz. At its heart is Lick Holden, a young jazz musician, who sets New Orleans on fire with his cornet at the beginning of the last century. But Lick's passion is to find his lost step-sister and that's a journey that leads him to a place he can call 'home'. Meanwhile, at the other end of the century, we find Sylvia, an English prostitute, and Jim, a young drifter. They're in search of Sylvia's past, lost somewhere in the mists of the Louisiana bayou.

Patrick Neate has written a story that straddles time and space, love and friendship, roots and pilgrimage and everything between. Poignant and hilarious, it will hook you - like a favourite tune - till the end.