From Ash Heap to Top of the World

Gotta love a story like this: Esi Edugyan’s Half-Blood Blues was mired at bankrupt publisher Key Porter, then rescued by Patrick Crean at Thomas Allen Publishers, and now has vaulted to win Canada’s Giller Prize. Picador will be bringing it out in the U.S. A foundling to a prize-winner! This is what I’ve always loved about publishing Canadian books in the U.S.–they lend themselves to great surprises. Kudos also due to editor Jane Warren, who while at Key Porter, worked on the novel with Ms. Edugyan.