Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

I have been trying to read the long list for the Man Booker prize the last few years--I have found that while the winner is often a very good book, and one I would not have been likely to find if not for the prize (although a number have been on the New York Times notable book list as well--if not, I am not all that connected with the world of great fiction). But what is also true is that I usually like other books on the long list better than the winner. That was not true the year that 'Wolf Hall' won (boy, I loved that book), but it was certainly true last year. This is the last book to become available of the 2012 nominees, and the second to last book on the list for me to read. This is a tale of ambition, love, and deceit, told against the background of World War II. The characters are in a jazz band playing in Germany on the cusp of Germany's invasion of first Poland and then France. They are of mixed race, and from several different countries--but the Afro-Germans are at great risk, and everyone knows it. The music the band is playing is superb, and the notoriety they have gets them out of Germany and into France, but that doesn't feel very safe for very long. On the upside, they have the opportunity to play with Louis Armstrong, and record their music, the Half Blood Blues of the book's title. But in order to do that, one of the band members makes a choice that haunts him. On a return trip to Europe 50 years later, he is faced with what he did, why he did it, and the consequences of his action.