Jack of Diamonds
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Published: Apr 30, 2013
Format: paperback
Number of pages: 720
ISBN-13: 9780143188193
Description: A spellbinding story of chance, music, corruption, and love set in 1930s Toronto. During the Great Depression there is little hope for a boy born into the slums of Cabbagetown, Toronto. But Jack Spayd is offered a ticket out in the form of a Hohner harmonica, won by his brutal, drunken father in a late-night card game. Jack makes music as a way to escape his surroundings, and his talent leads him to a jazz club and, eventually, to the jazz piano. Jack is a virtuoso and hits the road, enchanting audiences in Canada, wartime Europe, and Las Vegas.