Morgan is a Jazz pianist that earns his money with the occasional concerts in bars. His childhood in the tropics he has banned from his memories. An unexpected encounter on New Year’s day changes his life. When he returns home in the morning from a performance, he finds an elegant, young woman in a black dress, collapsed against the wall of the corner bike shop. To keep her from freezing, he offers her shelter without thinking twice. But it becomes quickly obvious that she - with her curious actions - triggers long-lost memories from his past. Or does she actually know him and is the meeting not as noncommittal as it seems? This chance encounter grows out into a search of gigantic proportions.

God made black and white, the devil and the half-blood. With these words first minister Joseph Pholien describes the relationship between white men and black women in Belgian Congo. Working for Doctors Without Borders Jonathan Robijn heard for the first time about organizations in the south of Ruanda, where fifty years ago children of Belgian fathers and Congolese mothers were raised. Shortly before Congolese Independence these Métis-children were “evacuated” to Belgium. Most of them never saw their biological parents, brothers, and sisters again. Just like Morgan.

'Jonathan Robijn is a subtle stylist. He proves to be a master in creating atmospheres, he suggests a lot, but most often he keeps his readers guessing. Like his last novel, Brussels plays a star role in Congo Blues. The Brussels of jazz, of course, but also that of stately lanes and residential suburbs, created with the money that was initially earned in the Congo. Do we become more complete as humans when we are aware of our roots, is the philosophical question behind Jonathan Robijn's novel, or is it best to simply look ahead and make the most out of life?' - De Morgen ****1/2

'What a beautiful book! Such a dark history, so lovingly and yet so unscrupulously written by Jonathan Robijn. You must read this novel.' – Alles over boeken en schrijvers***(Dutch literary blog)

“Congo Blues does a lot, and is filled to the brim with meaning. However, Robijn does not try to sketch the contours of a certain period in history. [..]  Jonathan Robijn only needs a meeting to set off the plot of his novel." - NRC

'Quietly, assuredly and with mesmerizing empathy, Congo Blues leads us right into colonialism‘s heart of pain.' – Francesca Melandri, author