The Fisher King

In her first novel in nine years, Paule Marshall returns with a moving story of jazz, love, and family conflict. In 1949 Brooklyn, Sonny-Rett Payne, a black jazz pianist, flees for Paris to escape both his mother's ire at his choice of music, and the racism that shadowed his career. His spectacular success in Europe and his death there form the dramatic background of this novel. Decades later, Sonny-Rett's eight-year-old Parisian grandson, is brought to his old Brooklyn neighborhood to...
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In her first novel in nine years, Paule Marshall returns with a moving story of jazz, love, and family conflict. In 1949 Brooklyn, Sonny-Rett Payne, a black jazz pianist, flees for Paris to escape both his mother's ire at his choice of music, and the racism that shadowed his career. His spectacular success in Europe and his death there form the dramatic background of this novel. Decades later, Sonny-Rett's eight-year-old Parisian grandson, is brought to his old Brooklyn neighborhood to attend a memorial concert. The child's visit reveals the persistent rivalries that drove his grandfather into exile. Will the young boy be a harbinger of reconciliation or a pawn in a continuing power struggle? With characters of astonishing depth, The Fisher King chronicles the myths, betrayals and angers that can alienate people for decades, as well as the hope and redemption offered by a small boy.