James Nuttall's debut novel Preaching Blues takes us deep into the heart of the Blues era and follows the life of seminal bluesman Robert Johnson through the eyes of Legba, god of crossroads. Legba watches Robert's life unfold, occasionally nudging him along his path, overseeing Robert's first atrocious attempts and later his legendary playing. Friends are made and lost, women come and go. Racism and segregation are a part of everyday life and merely tolerated. And while the life of a bluesman is not easy, those who answer it's call live on past their death.Gritty and evocative, James Nuttall captures the language and speech patterns, as well as the structural racism, that shaped Robert Johnson's life in the Delta during the 1930s. Based on the true life of Robert Johnson, Preaching Blues offers a fascinating commentary on what happens when we come to a crossroad, the choices we make, and what it means to be immortal