--- description: Find out why "August Blue" by Deborah Levy is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'August Blue' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta76c1590ca5b0f4f/698a4205b3fce30d390cafb6/AugustBlue.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2023 # August Blue by Deborah Levy by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  At the center of Booker Prize finalist [Deborah Levy’s ](https://time.com/collection/100-must-read-books-2021/6120601/real-estate-autobiography/ "undefined")cutting novel is Elsa M. Anderson, a 30-something British virtuoso whose piano performance in Vienna comes to a surprising halt when she walks off the stage and into chaos of her own creation. Elsa becomes fixated on a stranger who looks exactly like her—and she starts seeing the mysterious woman all over Europe. In detailing her protagonist’s journey, Levy crafts a surreal and moving narrative about identity and art. Don’t let the melancholy tone of the story fool you—at its core, _August Blue_ is a revealing look at the power of self-discovery. —_Annabel Gutterman_ **Buy Now**: _August Blue_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374602048 "undefined") | [Amazon ](https://amzn.to/3FKDohr "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332396/august-blue/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332396/august-blue/"},"headline":"August Blue","datePublished":"2023-11-14T12:30:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:25:15.519Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332396/august-blue/","keywords":["Books","list","best books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta76c1590ca5b0f4f/698a4205b3fce30d390cafb6/AugustBlue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta76c1590ca5b0f4f/698a4205b3fce30d390cafb6/AugustBlue.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332396/august-blue/","name":"August Blue"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME's 100 Must-Read Books of 2023","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WppeqCEz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-11-13T19:20:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WppeqCEz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332396/august-blue/","duration":"PT1M28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2023/6332396/august-blue/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```