Books : A Free Man of Color (Benjamin January, Book 1)
|
|
In association with Amazon.com
|
by: Barbara Hambly
Amazon.com's Price: $7.99 Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780553575262
ISBN: 0553575260
Label: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: June 01, 1998
Publisher: Bantam
Release Date: June 01, 1998
Sales Rank: 71497
Studio: Bantam
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
A lush and haunting novel of a city steeped in decadent pleasures...and of a man, proud and defiant, caught in a web of murder and betrayal.
It is 1833. In the midst of Mardi Gras, Benjamin January, a Creole physician and music teacher, is playing piano at the Salle d'Orleans when the evenings festivities are interrupted--by murder.
Ravishing Angelique Crozat, a notorious octoroon who travels in the city's finest company, has been strangled to death. With the authorities reluctant to become involved, Ben begins his own inquiry, which will take him through the seamy haunts of riverboatmen and into the huts of voodoo-worshipping slaves.
But soon the eyes of suspicion turn toward Ben—for, black as the slave who fathered him, this free man of color is still the perfect scapegoat....
Amazon.com Review:
In Barbara Hambly's rich and poignant thriller, it's 1833 and Ben January--a man of mixed blood making his living as a musician because he's not allowed to practice surgery--is back home in New Orleans after years of freedom in Paris. Trying to walk a caste line more complicated than India's, January risks his precarious position to investigate the killing of a young woman who--like his own younger, lighter half-sister--is the mistress of a wealthy white man. What has changed most in New Orleans while Ben was away is the influence of the white Americans: rough, ignorant, instinctively racist. Only one of these--a policeman named Abishag Shaw--seems to understand that January is at least as smart and valuable as he is, and even he at times appears to be ready to side with the white majority and pin the crime on Ben.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - DON'T MISS THIS AUTHOR
This is the first Benjamin January mystery, an outstanding series, especially for anyone interested in New Orleans history. Why hasn't Oprah latched onto this for her book club? I keep picturing Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (the late Mr. Eko on TV's Lost) as Ben. Great characters and incredible atmosphere.
Rating: - This was probably one of the best, and painful, mysteries i've read.
As a young Black man this was probably one of the best, and painful, mysteries i've read, I actually had to put it down a few times. I've become a big mystery/suspense/detective fan over the last few years and I go to a local mystery bookstore here in Boston (Kate's Mystery Books) and she referred this book to me. It started off slow but picked up for me in speed, and emotionally, quickly.
The book, following the main character Benjamin January/Janvier, tracks his life upon returning ... Read More
Rating: - Balls, Baubles, Bangles, and Bright Shiny Carnival Beads
An 1830s masked Carnival ball in New Orleans: what a great way to open a book. Author Barbara Hambly evidently did her homework for "A Free Man of Color:" you can almost hear the music, smell the sweat, taste the food, see the glittering diamonds, the intoxicating costumes. Outside on the streets, as ever, the mobs are also partying: wine, women and song, and the bright shiny carnival beads. But there is a downside to opening on a New Orleans masked ball: it feels like dozens of characters are thrown ... Read More
Rating:  - An acquired taste
3.5 Stars. As with most acquired tastes this novel does take some effort to apprecitate what Ms. Hambly has accomplised. However once the reader becomes acclimated to the time period and the societal differences and nuances of this era the story then becomes very compelling. The only other minor criticism I could have of this book is I wish that the multitude of characters had been developed a little more fully. I believe that because of her intention of growing this into a series this part of the novel ... Read More
Rating: - storyline
was recommanded this book, having recently moved to Louisiana myself ,It is interesting to read a story taking place in Nola(New Orleans-Louisiana)....good style, good description of the 19th C...
|
|
|
