Product Description

"At Paradise Jazz, myths became legends and legends took off their coats and played the kind of blues to leave blisters on your soul."

Kat Pomfret’s colourful debut novel explores what happens in a small town when big secrets collide. A novel about family, history and identity, Paradise Jazz tells the story of two women who have to confront a violent and secret past.

The stories of Georgetown Easy, looking for a father last seen in Texas 1978, and Helena Jones, who wants to forget the past as much as her great aunt wants her to remember it, twist round one another in the small but complex world of the novel, in which "life is like jambalaya, on the one hand nothing to hold it all together and on the other, Lord you try unpicking one thing from another."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #272300 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 483 pages

Screen International
A Comic Coming-Of-Age Novel by a Talented Young Author

Screen International
"A comic coming of age by a talented young author."

Sarah Bryant - author of City of the Sun
"Pomfret's style is beautiful and poetic, with echoes of Toni Morrison."

Customer Reviews

A tragic, comic tale
This book is one of the funniest most heart-warming stories I've read. It's literary but isn't heavy going. There's a huge amount of laugh-out-loud moments but also some really tragic ones. Paradise Jazz is a fast-paced rollercoaster ride about two women searching for their place in the world, discovering a secret past and trying to work out what to do about it. It deals with identity, race, family and history and once you've picked it up you can't put it down. The characterisation and dialogue are superb and it is all played out to a cool bluesy/jazz soundtrack which gives the book a great style. It is one of my favourite books of all time an excellent read and Kat Pomfret is a great new talent.
Get this book - it will make you laugh and cry and will leave you with a smile on your face.

A tragic, comic tale
This book is one of the funniest most heart-warming stories I've read. It's literary but isn't heavy going. There's a huge amount of laugh-out-loud moments but also some really tragic. Paradise Jazz is a fast-paced rollercoaster ride about two women searching for their place in the world, discovering a secret past and trying to work out what to do about it. It deals with identity, race, family and history and once you've picked it up you can't put it down. The characterisation and dialogue are superb and it is all played out to a cool bluesy/jazz soundtrack which gives the book a great style. It is one of my favourite books of all time an excellent read and Kat Pomfret is a great new talent.
Get this book - it will make you laugh and cry and will leave you with a smile on your face.

A colourful debut from a talented author
Paradise Jazz is a story of secrets, the past, the future and the nature of self as seen through the eyes of two girls, Georgetown and Helena. Each is searching for something - Georgetown is seeking her father, and Helena is seeking her self - and the book interweaves their stories, and the stories of other peripheral characters, with skill.

Kat Pomfret has a deceptive style; her smooth, flowing narrative and whimsical literary flourishes conceal astute observations on the nature of relationships and the impact upon them of secrets and lies. The subject matter of much of this book has the potential to be very weighty, but the lightness of tone of the prose prevents the book from ever becoming maudlin.

The dialogue sparkles and the characterisation is highly accomplished; only the hardest-hearted individual would not feel some kind of sympathy for the characters as they learn various damaging truths and cope with the tribulations that Pomfret sends their way.

It is not without its faults - there are superfluous lyrics scattered throughout, certain cultural references anchor it very firmly to Britain and this era and may limit its appeal beyond the UK, and I felt that it lost some steam about 3/4 of the way through - but such criticism is minor
and hardly detracts from the book, and even with it in mind it is still a striking debut from a clearly talented young author. I look forward to her second.