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Benjamin January #1
A Free Man of Color
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....
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....
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
325 people are currently reading
4261 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Hambly
200 books1,563 followersaka Barbara Hamilton
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 404 reviews
December 29, 2015
My book club selection for this month.
Previously (and many years ago) I'd read a few of Hambly's early fantasy books, and not been overly impressed - they were OK, but didn't transcend any of the genre standards. After reading 'A Free Man of Color' at a friend's recommendation, I can confirm that yes, Hambly definitely improved over time.
Aside from a few suggestions that voodoo curses and/or protective charms may be efficacious, the book does not have fantasy elements - it's historical fiction. Benjamin January is the titular 'free man of color.' Of African heritage and raised in New Orleans, he is both a trained surgeon and an accomplished musician. Recently returned to his home town, after having spent the past few years in France, where he was accorded a certain degree of respect, he's experiencing a great deal of 'culture shock' in adjusting to the inferior status he holds in New Orleans. And the racism in Louisiana is getting worse, as the region's French culture is diluted by an influx of boorish men with an 'American' identity and an assumption that anyone with dark skin deserves nothing more than to be enslaved.
The reader has to ask why January would stay in such an inhospitable environment. Hambly strives to answer the question: January is fleeing his grief over the death of his wife; he feels an obligation to friends and family; he has a sense of 'belonging' and 'home' tied to New Orleans. I didn't find all these reasons fully convincing. I myself would've been outta there in a hot second. But I could accept that someone else might feel differently, and might've behaved as January does here.
The plot itself is a standard mystery/investigation: During a courtesans' ball, a woman is found murdered. As the victim was a woman of mixed race, and of 'low moral standing' to boot, the first reaction is to sweep the incident under the closest convenient rug. Benjamin January, with an innate sense of justice, doesn't allow that to happen. However, soon afterwards he realizes that his attempt to do the right things may not have been in his self-interest. He was one of the last people to see the victim alive, and it'd be far easier to pin the crime on a black man than to investigate a crime which was probably committed by a white man, and one likely highly placed in society, at that. January's only hope to avoid being arrested may be to try to solve the crime himself, in order to clear his name.
But as he looks into what may have happened and who may have had a grudge against this woman, things only get more complicated. For she wasn't a particularly nice person, and the list of people who may have held something against her only gets longer, the more details emerge...
The solid mystery plot is raised from 3 to 4 stars by the meticulous and well-incorporated historical and social details; which make for fascinating reading - and also by the satisfying yet bittersweet ending. There were several 'easy outs' the author could have taken in finishing up the story - and she opted for none of them, resulting in a much better book than this might've been.
I'd definitely read more in this series.
Previously (and many years ago) I'd read a few of Hambly's early fantasy books, and not been overly impressed - they were OK, but didn't transcend any of the genre standards. After reading 'A Free Man of Color' at a friend's recommendation, I can confirm that yes, Hambly definitely improved over time.
Aside from a few suggestions that voodoo curses and/or protective charms may be efficacious, the book does not have fantasy elements - it's historical fiction. Benjamin January is the titular 'free man of color.' Of African heritage and raised in New Orleans, he is both a trained surgeon and an accomplished musician. Recently returned to his home town, after having spent the past few years in France, where he was accorded a certain degree of respect, he's experiencing a great deal of 'culture shock' in adjusting to the inferior status he holds in New Orleans. And the racism in Louisiana is getting worse, as the region's French culture is diluted by an influx of boorish men with an 'American' identity and an assumption that anyone with dark skin deserves nothing more than to be enslaved.
The reader has to ask why January would stay in such an inhospitable environment. Hambly strives to answer the question: January is fleeing his grief over the death of his wife; he feels an obligation to friends and family; he has a sense of 'belonging' and 'home' tied to New Orleans. I didn't find all these reasons fully convincing. I myself would've been outta there in a hot second. But I could accept that someone else might feel differently, and might've behaved as January does here.
The plot itself is a standard mystery/investigation: During a courtesans' ball, a woman is found murdered. As the victim was a woman of mixed race, and of 'low moral standing' to boot, the first reaction is to sweep the incident under the closest convenient rug. Benjamin January, with an innate sense of justice, doesn't allow that to happen. However, soon afterwards he realizes that his attempt to do the right things may not have been in his self-interest. He was one of the last people to see the victim alive, and it'd be far easier to pin the crime on a black man than to investigate a crime which was probably committed by a white man, and one likely highly placed in society, at that. January's only hope to avoid being arrested may be to try to solve the crime himself, in order to clear his name.
But as he looks into what may have happened and who may have had a grudge against this woman, things only get more complicated. For she wasn't a particularly nice person, and the list of people who may have held something against her only gets longer, the more details emerge...
The solid mystery plot is raised from 3 to 4 stars by the meticulous and well-incorporated historical and social details; which make for fascinating reading - and also by the satisfying yet bittersweet ending. There were several 'easy outs' the author could have taken in finishing up the story - and she opted for none of them, resulting in a much better book than this might've been.
I'd definitely read more in this series.
July 3, 2021
Reread July 2021
I had a much better experience with this book this time round and found the mystery to be cleverly done. I might explore more of the series.
Jan 2017
2.5 stars. This had an interesting premise and the descriptions of New Orleans itself and its society were interesting, particularly all the different names for different types of racial mix: quadroons and octoroons and mulatto that were used in that period. But the story was excruciatingly slow and jumbled. I've read some science fiction by this author too and found the same thing.
I had a much better experience with this book this time round and found the mystery to be cleverly done. I might explore more of the series.
Jan 2017
2.5 stars. This had an interesting premise and the descriptions of New Orleans itself and its society were interesting, particularly all the different names for different types of racial mix: quadroons and octoroons and mulatto that were used in that period. But the story was excruciatingly slow and jumbled. I've read some science fiction by this author too and found the same thing.
August 23, 2012
When beautiful and ruthless octoroon Angelique Crozat is found strangled to death in the midst of an opulent Mardi Gras costume ball, dark-skinned Benjamin January—physician, music teacher, and son of a former slave—soon finds himself the prime suspect in her murder. With his freedom and life at stake, January sets out to find the real killer. His quest will take him from the opulent mansions of rich white planters to the huts of voodoo-worshipping slaves, and through the dark streets of 1833 New Orleans in search of a murderer who is poised to strike again.
I’ve been a fan of Barbara Hambly since I read Dragonsbane. One of the things I admired most about her writing is her methodical attention to detail. A Free Man of Color is no exception. Hambly focuses on the delicate, twilit world of 1830’s New Orleans, managing to capture the city’s exotic strangeness, while maintaining an absolute sense of physical reality. The landed aristocracy and their colored mistresses celebrate Mardi Gras, completely oblivious to the squalor surrounding them. The period detail—fashion, food, manners, music, and voodoo—is rich and decadent, full of sights, textures, sounds and tastes of the city.
The prose is a bit clunky at times (“crimson with rage”, etc.), but Benjamin January shines as a good man in a bad situation, trying to do what is right in a society that classifies people according to an intricate scale of color and bloodline from mulatto to octoroon and everything in between.
Favorite Line/Image: “Phrasie, don’t be a fool.” Livia thrust herself into the fray, slapped Euphrasie loudly on her plump cheek.
Euphrasie fell back, opening her mouth to scream, and Livia picked up the water pitcher from the sideboard. “You scream and I dump this over you.”
Clisson, Odile, and Agnes Pellicot promptly retreated to the doorway, hands pressing their mountains of petticoats back for safety. January reflected that they’d all known his mother for thirty years.
Euphrasie, too, wisely forbore to scream.
Bottom Line: A sharp portrait of curiously nuanced class divisions.
I’ve been a fan of Barbara Hambly since I read Dragonsbane. One of the things I admired most about her writing is her methodical attention to detail. A Free Man of Color is no exception. Hambly focuses on the delicate, twilit world of 1830’s New Orleans, managing to capture the city’s exotic strangeness, while maintaining an absolute sense of physical reality. The landed aristocracy and their colored mistresses celebrate Mardi Gras, completely oblivious to the squalor surrounding them. The period detail—fashion, food, manners, music, and voodoo—is rich and decadent, full of sights, textures, sounds and tastes of the city.
The prose is a bit clunky at times (“crimson with rage”, etc.), but Benjamin January shines as a good man in a bad situation, trying to do what is right in a society that classifies people according to an intricate scale of color and bloodline from mulatto to octoroon and everything in between.
Favorite Line/Image: “Phrasie, don’t be a fool.” Livia thrust herself into the fray, slapped Euphrasie loudly on her plump cheek.
Euphrasie fell back, opening her mouth to scream, and Livia picked up the water pitcher from the sideboard. “You scream and I dump this over you.”
Clisson, Odile, and Agnes Pellicot promptly retreated to the doorway, hands pressing their mountains of petticoats back for safety. January reflected that they’d all known his mother for thirty years.
Euphrasie, too, wisely forbore to scream.
Bottom Line: A sharp portrait of curiously nuanced class divisions.
December 30, 2011
Re-read this one for mystery book club, and glad I did. Barbara Hambly looks at race, gender and class, framed with a mystery plot. Ben January is unlike any other protagonists I've read, a 40 year old free man of color in 1830's New Orleans who has returned to his hometown after his wife's death in Paris. He is trained as a doctor, but makes his living as a piano player. He has a sister who's a courtesan and one who's a voodooiene.
The mystery is complex, with a vast cast of characters. It's sometimes difficult to keep track of them all. Ben's involvement becomes more and more personal, even as he feels that justice becomes more and more unlikely.
One of the things I love most about the series is how the author evokes time and place. New Orleans is definitely a character in the book. We see the old French Creole families' resentment of the brash, uncultured Americans coming into their city. We can hear the Kentucky flatboatmen cursing and fighting along the docks. And we can try to understand the complexities of family and racial ties in a place that looks the other way as a man goes from his wife at one ball to his colored courtesan at another ball, all "the custom of the country." It's heartbreakingly sad, and makes one think about race in today's world, and all the reasons to look the other way at injustice.
The mystery is complex, with a vast cast of characters. It's sometimes difficult to keep track of them all. Ben's involvement becomes more and more personal, even as he feels that justice becomes more and more unlikely.
One of the things I love most about the series is how the author evokes time and place. New Orleans is definitely a character in the book. We see the old French Creole families' resentment of the brash, uncultured Americans coming into their city. We can hear the Kentucky flatboatmen cursing and fighting along the docks. And we can try to understand the complexities of family and racial ties in a place that looks the other way as a man goes from his wife at one ball to his colored courtesan at another ball, all "the custom of the country." It's heartbreakingly sad, and makes one think about race in today's world, and all the reasons to look the other way at injustice.
April 6, 2010
I really enjoyed this. It's very nice historical fiction and a pretty good mystery as well. Hambly's writing is excellent. The characterizations are rich and achingly realistic. She does tend (so it seems to me, after reading three of her novels) to indulge in outrageous action scenes for her endings.
Benjamin January is the titular free man of color, and at the end I was insufficiently convinced of his need to remain in the hazardous environment of 1833 New Orleans rather than return to Europe, where he has been living for years and where, if he wasn't exactly considered a first class citizen, he was at least in no danger of being kidnapped and sold into slavery, or being flogged for being "impudent" to a white man.
There's a murder and a mystery, but the novel is mostly concerned with an examination of the intricate French-flavored society in which the white and mixed-race citizens of New Orleans mingle, and where there exists a safe zone for persons of African ancestry that is threatened by the encroachment of Americans and their "custom" of enslaving anyone with dark skin.
There were a lot of French names to keep track of. I would have appreciated a dramatis personae.
Benjamin January is the titular free man of color, and at the end I was insufficiently convinced of his need to remain in the hazardous environment of 1833 New Orleans rather than return to Europe, where he has been living for years and where, if he wasn't exactly considered a first class citizen, he was at least in no danger of being kidnapped and sold into slavery, or being flogged for being "impudent" to a white man.
There's a murder and a mystery, but the novel is mostly concerned with an examination of the intricate French-flavored society in which the white and mixed-race citizens of New Orleans mingle, and where there exists a safe zone for persons of African ancestry that is threatened by the encroachment of Americans and their "custom" of enslaving anyone with dark skin.
There were a lot of French names to keep track of. I would have appreciated a dramatis personae.
January 1, 2024
Set in New Orleans in 1833, Benjamin January has just returned from sixteen years in France where he trained as a medical doctor. Back home, January is unable to practice medicine due to color prejudice, so he finds himself playing piano in the band at the Blue-Ribbon Ball during Mardi Gras. During the Ball, a woman is murdered, and the resulting investigation casts January as a suspect. He was the last to see the murdered woman alive and it would be convenient to blame the murder on him. Race relations have taken a turn due to the increasing presence of Americans, who do not agree with the French on the rights of people of color.
The many nuances of color in New Orleans are described in detail. There are a number of red herrings, and the resolution is kept under wraps until near the bloody and violent ending. For me, the best part of the story is the period ambiance of New Orleans. It is obviously meticulously researched but the writing is rather repetitive. This is a “historical mystery.” I liked the historical part more than the mystery. I think regular readers of murder mysteries will probably like it more than I did.
The many nuances of color in New Orleans are described in detail. There are a number of red herrings, and the resolution is kept under wraps until near the bloody and violent ending. For me, the best part of the story is the period ambiance of New Orleans. It is obviously meticulously researched but the writing is rather repetitive. This is a “historical mystery.” I liked the historical part more than the mystery. I think regular readers of murder mysteries will probably like it more than I did.
October 16, 2011
If you want to read a historical novel that has a carefully researched background, this book is the book for you. I will give you a word of warning however: Do not think that because this book is set in the United States and the characters all speak English that you are reading of characters who share a common culture with you. The world of Louisiana in the 1840's is a very different place and its people think far, far differently than do the people who live there today.
If it helps, perhaps your best tactic is to approach this book as though you were about to read a science fiction book set on an alien planet. Some people find that helpful when they read of the strange customs that were common at that time.
I hope I haven't scared anyone off. This is a well written book and it's an entertaining mystery. Best of all, this is the first book in a series.
If it helps, perhaps your best tactic is to approach this book as though you were about to read a science fiction book set on an alien planet. Some people find that helpful when they read of the strange customs that were common at that time.
I hope I haven't scared anyone off. This is a well written book and it's an entertaining mystery. Best of all, this is the first book in a series.
May 25, 2018
I first discovered Hambly by reading her fantasy. In fact, the book was Dragonsbane. But, I think her real love is historical fiction because her historical fiction is better. This was the first her historical fiction I read. It is the start of the Ben January series.
Ben is a free man of color in recently US brought New Orleans. His mother was a field slave until a white man took an interest in her and brought and freed both her and her two children. The same man paid for Ben's education, both in New Orleans and Paris. Ben is both a skilled surgeon and a skilled piano player. When he returns to New Orleans after a long spell in Paris, he has to readjust to the various codes that he needs to live by. His mother and youngest sister are both prominent in planter society - his sister, Minou, is a mistress to a white planter. His other sister (full sister) is a voodoo priestess, a wife, and a mother. Needless to say, there is some family drama, in particular Ben's feeling that his mother loves her third child (the daughter of the white man who freed her) best.
The first book finds Ben in the midst of a murder mystery where is life is on the line, for better to accuses a black man of murder of a black woman than an white man or woman from society. He also interacts with one of the new American lawman, who somewhat to everyone surprise can read.
In a later edition of the book or installment in the series, Hambly corrects what historical erros she made here. (Hambly has a degree in and has taught history). What is of note here is Hambly's use of code switching by the characters, the use of color to determine social standing (including shades of black, something that is not always dealt with) as well as women having to deal with a society that constructs them. And of course, the question of race and slavery. It is to Hambly's credit that she never goes the route of the trophe of good master, and even "good" masters are dismissed by Ben as not being moral because of owning another person or treating black people as less than human.
Ben and his friend Hannibal might, might, be a bit too ahead of their time in being open minded, but both men's back stories do take this into account. Neither man is perfect, and in fact, Ben does wrestle somewhat with one or two reveals in the story.
Personallly, I find Livia, Ben's mother, to be the most interesting character of all.
Ben is a free man of color in recently US brought New Orleans. His mother was a field slave until a white man took an interest in her and brought and freed both her and her two children. The same man paid for Ben's education, both in New Orleans and Paris. Ben is both a skilled surgeon and a skilled piano player. When he returns to New Orleans after a long spell in Paris, he has to readjust to the various codes that he needs to live by. His mother and youngest sister are both prominent in planter society - his sister, Minou, is a mistress to a white planter. His other sister (full sister) is a voodoo priestess, a wife, and a mother. Needless to say, there is some family drama, in particular Ben's feeling that his mother loves her third child (the daughter of the white man who freed her) best.
The first book finds Ben in the midst of a murder mystery where is life is on the line, for better to accuses a black man of murder of a black woman than an white man or woman from society. He also interacts with one of the new American lawman, who somewhat to everyone surprise can read.
In a later edition of the book or installment in the series, Hambly corrects what historical erros she made here. (Hambly has a degree in and has taught history). What is of note here is Hambly's use of code switching by the characters, the use of color to determine social standing (including shades of black, something that is not always dealt with) as well as women having to deal with a society that constructs them. And of course, the question of race and slavery. It is to Hambly's credit that she never goes the route of the trophe of good master, and even "good" masters are dismissed by Ben as not being moral because of owning another person or treating black people as less than human.
Ben and his friend Hannibal might, might, be a bit too ahead of their time in being open minded, but both men's back stories do take this into account. Neither man is perfect, and in fact, Ben does wrestle somewhat with one or two reveals in the story.
Personallly, I find Livia, Ben's mother, to be the most interesting character of all.
August 12, 2008
This is one of many books for which I wish there was some greater degree of granularity by which I could rate them. Some comprimise position would be welcome.
I spent the better part of this book thinking that I would give it two stars, and a portion nearer the end it sank nearly to one star in my estimation. But Hambly is a clever writer, and she avoided all the worst flaws a mystery can have and gave something of a satisfying ending, so I have to say that I liked it with some qualifications.
The setting of the story is New Orleans, circa 1833. Naturally then, most of the book is about the setting, and one feels dragged along to various vista like a tourist in a tour group. Hambly lives in New Orleans part of the year, and she's done her research - though its hard to be convincing when relating out of the ordinary situations. The pacing of the history tour is leisurely, almost sleepy, like tea colored bayou, a summer afternoon, or molasses in January. After a while, I found this tended to put me to sleep (literally, hense the long time reading a short book) and the situation wasn't helped by the great cavalcade of names that steam by. But my biggest worry through this portion, was that the author's somewhat understandable desire to portray the worst of the times was going to subvert the story. For the long time, the only hint of a twist was a wholly unwelcome one, and I found myself thinking, "Please no. Anything would be better than that. A 'Scooby Doo' ending would be better than that."
It was.
I was rather much relieved. Granted, the peices of the puzzle fell into place in a most unconvincing manner, one particular twist was simply outrageous, and nothing that the protagonist did and struggled to do really served to solve the mystery until the right theory fell into his lap, but all in all it was fairly satisfying with a sufficient number of clues to leave you thinking, 'Yes, I should have seen that.' Ben January is likable, as broadly talented as one could want and then some, but ultimately hardly the master slueth that earns our admiration.
So, yes, I enjoyed the novel, but with all the qualifications unless I get a recommendation that the series gets better once the setting and character exposition is out of the way, I probably won't pursue it further.
I spent the better part of this book thinking that I would give it two stars, and a portion nearer the end it sank nearly to one star in my estimation. But Hambly is a clever writer, and she avoided all the worst flaws a mystery can have and gave something of a satisfying ending, so I have to say that I liked it with some qualifications.
The setting of the story is New Orleans, circa 1833. Naturally then, most of the book is about the setting, and one feels dragged along to various vista like a tourist in a tour group. Hambly lives in New Orleans part of the year, and she's done her research - though its hard to be convincing when relating out of the ordinary situations. The pacing of the history tour is leisurely, almost sleepy, like tea colored bayou, a summer afternoon, or molasses in January. After a while, I found this tended to put me to sleep (literally, hense the long time reading a short book) and the situation wasn't helped by the great cavalcade of names that steam by. But my biggest worry through this portion, was that the author's somewhat understandable desire to portray the worst of the times was going to subvert the story. For the long time, the only hint of a twist was a wholly unwelcome one, and I found myself thinking, "Please no. Anything would be better than that. A 'Scooby Doo' ending would be better than that."
It was.
I was rather much relieved. Granted, the peices of the puzzle fell into place in a most unconvincing manner, one particular twist was simply outrageous, and nothing that the protagonist did and struggled to do really served to solve the mystery until the right theory fell into his lap, but all in all it was fairly satisfying with a sufficient number of clues to leave you thinking, 'Yes, I should have seen that.' Ben January is likable, as broadly talented as one could want and then some, but ultimately hardly the master slueth that earns our admiration.
So, yes, I enjoyed the novel, but with all the qualifications unless I get a recommendation that the series gets better once the setting and character exposition is out of the way, I probably won't pursue it further.
May 8, 2013
Prior to reading this book, I knew nothing of "free people of colour" in the Southern USA and in particular New Orleans, where many a white slave owner had a coloured mistress set up in her own home that he visited regularly. Of course, children who were born belonged to the "massa"...he had the choice of sending them to his plantation to work or of allowing them to grow up with their mother. Often both mother and children were freed and able to carry on their own businesses and lives. But all of these free "people of colour" lived in fear that one day, some white man would carry them away to be slaves again.
Benjamin January is the child of one of these liaisons whose father sent him to Paris where he became a doctor. Upon his return to New Orleans after years in a colour-blind, cosmopolitan city, there is culture shock. Of course, all of the medical training in the world would never allow him to be a doctor anywhere in the southern states so January ekes out a living as a musician and as a part-time MD. But January is a smart man with an eye for detail and a knack for asking the right questions of the right people without causing offense. Soon, he has another "job" as a detective.
All of the books in the series are, imho, the best writing that Ms. Hambly has ever done. Her descriptions of New Orleans life in the 1800s draw you right in so you can almost see the homes, events and people. I used to wait with a lot of impatience for each book to come out. I think I have read all of the books at least 3 times each. Every read has been a pleasure.
Benjamin January is the child of one of these liaisons whose father sent him to Paris where he became a doctor. Upon his return to New Orleans after years in a colour-blind, cosmopolitan city, there is culture shock. Of course, all of the medical training in the world would never allow him to be a doctor anywhere in the southern states so January ekes out a living as a musician and as a part-time MD. But January is a smart man with an eye for detail and a knack for asking the right questions of the right people without causing offense. Soon, he has another "job" as a detective.
All of the books in the series are, imho, the best writing that Ms. Hambly has ever done. Her descriptions of New Orleans life in the 1800s draw you right in so you can almost see the homes, events and people. I used to wait with a lot of impatience for each book to come out. I think I have read all of the books at least 3 times each. Every read has been a pleasure.
December 27, 2011
Rating: 3* of five
The first Benjamin January/Javier mystery set in 1833 New Orleans and featuring a black musician/doctor as our POV character/sleuth.
The backstory of this mystery is, in my observation, more interesting than the mystery to be solved. I wasn't able to get into the book on first read, and made it to chapter 3 before shelving it. I re-tried the story, and got all the way through this time. It's a very evocative piece of writing, it's got a lot of characters whose interactions are very interesting, and in the end I was gruntled enough to give it three stars.
What I found irksome was the mystery itself. The sleuth's reasons for investigating the murder are, in theory, the strongest possible. Why then was I so indifferent to the crime and the eventual punishment? Because I don't think the author was fully engaged with that aspect of the story. It's not that it felt perfunctory, exactly, but it felt...extraneous...like she put it in so she'd have a reason to tell us a story in this setting.
Since it's the first of a series, I might pick up the next and see if there's some change that could make me follow the rest...but frankly, it's low on my priority list. Check back in 2013 or so (assuming the world doesn't end in 2012).
Neutral response...hazard at your own risk, historical fans.
The first Benjamin January/Javier mystery set in 1833 New Orleans and featuring a black musician/doctor as our POV character/sleuth.
The backstory of this mystery is, in my observation, more interesting than the mystery to be solved. I wasn't able to get into the book on first read, and made it to chapter 3 before shelving it. I re-tried the story, and got all the way through this time. It's a very evocative piece of writing, it's got a lot of characters whose interactions are very interesting, and in the end I was gruntled enough to give it three stars.
What I found irksome was the mystery itself. The sleuth's reasons for investigating the murder are, in theory, the strongest possible. Why then was I so indifferent to the crime and the eventual punishment? Because I don't think the author was fully engaged with that aspect of the story. It's not that it felt perfunctory, exactly, but it felt...extraneous...like she put it in so she'd have a reason to tell us a story in this setting.
Since it's the first of a series, I might pick up the next and see if there's some change that could make me follow the rest...but frankly, it's low on my priority list. Check back in 2013 or so (assuming the world doesn't end in 2012).
Neutral response...hazard at your own risk, historical fans.
November 28, 2024
I'll make no apologies: I'm an outlier on this.
It is ostensibly a murder mystery. Yes, there is a murder and no, who did the deed isn't obvious. The man of the title and the series must discover who *did* do the murder or else he'll find himself no longer free and probably hanging from a noose.
I'm an outlier because I contend that at least 2/3 of this wasn't a murder investigation. It was hatred, pure and simple. The year is 1833, so 30 years after the Louisiana Purchase. The "ruling" class of New Orleans is French. They hate the uncivilized Americans. They called them the Kaintuck. Ok, so the white French felt superior to the white Americans, and hated them accordingly. The French had already established a slave society and, of course, the African slaves were beneath them. The Americans felt the same, as we know from our history.
Ah, but that isn't where it ends. Not all of the Negroes were direct from Africa. There was another class of quadroons and octoroons because, though the whites of both nations hated the Negroes, they were perfectly willing to propagate with them. So then there began to be Coloreds and Blacks. The Coloreds were certain they were superior to the Blacks and another level of hatred was born.
I have read other books where there is racism or anti-semitism. I have either set those aside or recognized that neither was the apparent purpose of the book. Hambly makes this hatred and racism the purpose of this book. I want nothing of it. I cannot even justify that I finished reading this volume of hate. I tend to think Hambly hates America and spent 400 pages proving we should go hang our heads.
Slavery and racism is despicable, of course. But note above, that the French had established the system *before* Louisiana became part of the US. And, honestly, let's not forget that in the rest of the US, slavery was here because the British established the system, importing slaves from Africa. Slaves, by the way, that were sold to the British by other Africans. The British let their needs be known but they didn't go back into the country and haul people out. Other Africans did the deed. That doesn't excuse Americans allowing the system to continue another 80 years after the Revolution.
Rant over. I rarely hand out a single star to a book I was able to finish. This is a rare exception.
It is ostensibly a murder mystery. Yes, there is a murder and no, who did the deed isn't obvious. The man of the title and the series must discover who *did* do the murder or else he'll find himself no longer free and probably hanging from a noose.
I'm an outlier because I contend that at least 2/3 of this wasn't a murder investigation. It was hatred, pure and simple. The year is 1833, so 30 years after the Louisiana Purchase. The "ruling" class of New Orleans is French. They hate the uncivilized Americans. They called them the Kaintuck. Ok, so the white French felt superior to the white Americans, and hated them accordingly. The French had already established a slave society and, of course, the African slaves were beneath them. The Americans felt the same, as we know from our history.
Ah, but that isn't where it ends. Not all of the Negroes were direct from Africa. There was another class of quadroons and octoroons because, though the whites of both nations hated the Negroes, they were perfectly willing to propagate with them. So then there began to be Coloreds and Blacks. The Coloreds were certain they were superior to the Blacks and another level of hatred was born.
I have read other books where there is racism or anti-semitism. I have either set those aside or recognized that neither was the apparent purpose of the book. Hambly makes this hatred and racism the purpose of this book. I want nothing of it. I cannot even justify that I finished reading this volume of hate. I tend to think Hambly hates America and spent 400 pages proving we should go hang our heads.
Slavery and racism is despicable, of course. But note above, that the French had established the system *before* Louisiana became part of the US. And, honestly, let's not forget that in the rest of the US, slavery was here because the British established the system, importing slaves from Africa. Slaves, by the way, that were sold to the British by other Africans. The British let their needs be known but they didn't go back into the country and haul people out. Other Africans did the deed. That doesn't excuse Americans allowing the system to continue another 80 years after the Revolution.
Rant over. I rarely hand out a single star to a book I was able to finish. This is a rare exception.
June 26, 2012
This is a story about property.
It about who owns the land, who owns the jewels, the clothes, the bank, the stores, who owns the deeds and titles, and, most importantly, who owns the truth.
It’s 1830’s New Orleans and there is one set of rules for those with Caucasian ancestry, another set of rules with African ancestry, and a complicated multi-layer set of rules for those with a mix of those two ancestries, depending very much on what your percentage is, and what, exactly, the shade of color your skin tone is.
Benjamin January has returned to his friends and family in his home of New Orleans after spending 16 years in the much more civilized land of France. Thanks to the fact his mother was mistress to a wealthy white man, he had the money to go, to study medicine and music, and to have the kind of privileges most people, of any hue, couldn’t have even dreamed of in early 19th century America.
After his wife dies, everything in Paris reminds him of his loss, so he comes home to escape his grief and finds that, in his absence, New Orleans in no longer a city of French culture, but American rules, with every chilling implication possible. It’s still home, but the stakes have been raised.
The most depressing thing about this book is that, now, almost 200 years later, a man well educated, well spoken, well dressed, prosperous, and neither committing or intending any harm, can still find himself harassed for the crime of having skin that is “too dark.”
Still, civil rights issues aside, this was a very fun read for the sheer of amount detail that Hambly poured into it – the names of our Spanish-English-French-African cast of characters, the characters who come from every level of society, the houses – from mansions to shacks – the detail of every Mardi Gras costume and mask, the wine and coffee that flow free, the foods that are uniquely New Orleans, the music – from Bach to proto-Blues – and on and on and, bringing this little bubble of a society to vibrant life, all of t to be swept away come 1860 and largely forgotten.
Benjamin January is an amateur detective of the Historical Fiction Mystery genre of the first rank. As the clocked ticked down to see if he could solve the mystery without getting killed himself, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time…
February 7, 2015
Benjamin January is a free man of color, recently returned to 1840s New Orleans. The city isn't quite what he remembered. On a large scale, the Americans are moving in, bringing with them their vulgar ways and language and their attitudes towards free and enslaved blacks. On a smaller scale, Ben has lost touch with the intricacies of Creole society, especially the lives of the colored demimonde.
All possible worlds collide when Ben is asked to deliver a message to a octaroon girl at a carnivale ball... by the widowed wife of the girl's lover. The girl is later found strangled and Ben is the easiest suspect.
This book has more going for it in terms of the history, rather than the mystery. Hambly has done an extraordinary job of both researching and bringing to life pre-Civil War New Orleans. The clash of classes, races, language and morals are all perfectly displayed.
But Hambly's real achievement is the character of Ben January and his struggle to deal with his own identity and his blackness in a society that reviles him. There are moments in the book that are so tense and uncomfortable, because they entirety real.
All possible worlds collide when Ben is asked to deliver a message to a octaroon girl at a carnivale ball... by the widowed wife of the girl's lover. The girl is later found strangled and Ben is the easiest suspect.
This book has more going for it in terms of the history, rather than the mystery. Hambly has done an extraordinary job of both researching and bringing to life pre-Civil War New Orleans. The clash of classes, races, language and morals are all perfectly displayed.
But Hambly's real achievement is the character of Ben January and his struggle to deal with his own identity and his blackness in a society that reviles him. There are moments in the book that are so tense and uncomfortable, because they entirety real.
January 19, 2011
A very good thriller set in pre-Civil War New Orleans. The setting is unusual, the characters compelling and the plot full of very interesting twists -- all told in lush prose without a lot of the inaccuracies to be found in most historical fiction, mysteries or otherwise.
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/A_Free...
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/A_Free...
February 15, 2025
Although this book is a thriller, I was not entirely thrilled. I was often confused by the plot and thought that the storyline was jumped from one place to another. I tried different ways to read this book to understand it but found myself lost every way. I understand the book well enough to get the jist, but I was underwhelmed by the lack of mystery. I did enjoy some aspects of the book and understand some areas of it, but more often than not, I wasn't entirely sure where our character, Benjamin January, was or what his motive was which made following the story difficult at times.
January 29, 2020
I've read a few of these books out of order (as I came upon them in used bookstores). The characters and the depiction of the New Orleans society of the time always strike me as stronger than the actually mysteries, but this first entry is especially strong.
I'm upgrading this to 5 stars on my reread. I've been reading a lot of historical mysteries lately, and this one strikes me as being exceptionally good, particularly in the recreation of a world. January himself is a deeply sympathetic but also complex and well-drawn character. Sure, there is purple prose in places, and the solution to the mystery seems a little out of left field -- the author has, in fact, carefully placed clues, but they've been minimized compared to the narrative's, and the investigation's, other concerns. I'm determined to read my way through the series this time.
I'm upgrading this to 5 stars on my reread. I've been reading a lot of historical mysteries lately, and this one strikes me as being exceptionally good, particularly in the recreation of a world. January himself is a deeply sympathetic but also complex and well-drawn character. Sure, there is purple prose in places, and the solution to the mystery seems a little out of left field -- the author has, in fact, carefully placed clues, but they've been minimized compared to the narrative's, and the investigation's, other concerns. I'm determined to read my way through the series this time.
June 23, 2012
While in New Orleans I was so entranced by the city that I wanted to read a HF set in the French Quarter. I bought this book in a local NOLA indie bookshop and was not disappointed. The scene setting was wonderful and as I walked through the French Quarter I imagined the story and the characters walking the same streets and alleys. The story has a mystery as well which was pretty good. I almost feel like this book deserves a 3.5 rating for the mystery aspect and the writing was a bit tedious at times, however, the lush descriptions of the times, the people and the location bump it up to a 4 star read. I do plan on moving on with the series.
August 13, 2025
Didn’t I tell myself fifteen minutes ago, ‘Let’s not do this again’?
Excellent historical fiction set in 1830s New Orleans. Recently returned from Paris, Benjamin January, the titular free man of color, finds home very different and his place in it—as either a surgeon or a musician—hard to reestablish. Hambly recreates the atmosphere and tensions of a culture in turmoil: smarting under the new rule of boorish Americans, subdivided by class, money, and complexities of color unlike modern counterparts.
With one white grandparent—whoever that had been—he was only sang mêlé by courtesy in those days. He knew how, in colored society, one white grandparent was looked down upon by those who had two or more.
Told from Benjamin’s perspective, the tale explores how a black man, estranged from even his own family, finds himself at the focus of a murder. Perhaps a convenient suspect. His scientific approach to detail draws the attention of both the authorities and the suspect. Police lieutenant Abishag Shaw draws heavily on young Abraham Lincoln, with the edges roughened.
He wondered why they all didn’t leave, all who were able to—all who were still free. And how long, he wondered, would that freedom last, with the arriving Americans, who saw every dark-skinned human being as something to be appropriated and sold?
No wonder this tale spawned many sequels. Hambly draws the reader into a different time and place, but examines the human heart to discover many of the same aspirations and motives as moderns. Sadly, she erred thirty years ago when she opined, “Light skin was valued and dark skin discredited, and a tremendous amount of energy went into making distinctions that seem absurdly petty today.” A good read despite trigger words.
The songs in the field. The blue bead on his ankle. The twisted steel cross in his pocket. They were verses in a bigger song, and suddenly he was aware of what the song was about. And it wasn’t just about his family, his friends, and his own sore heart.
Excellent historical fiction set in 1830s New Orleans. Recently returned from Paris, Benjamin January, the titular free man of color, finds home very different and his place in it—as either a surgeon or a musician—hard to reestablish. Hambly recreates the atmosphere and tensions of a culture in turmoil: smarting under the new rule of boorish Americans, subdivided by class, money, and complexities of color unlike modern counterparts.
With one white grandparent—whoever that had been—he was only sang mêlé by courtesy in those days. He knew how, in colored society, one white grandparent was looked down upon by those who had two or more.
Told from Benjamin’s perspective, the tale explores how a black man, estranged from even his own family, finds himself at the focus of a murder. Perhaps a convenient suspect. His scientific approach to detail draws the attention of both the authorities and the suspect. Police lieutenant Abishag Shaw draws heavily on young Abraham Lincoln, with the edges roughened.
He wondered why they all didn’t leave, all who were able to—all who were still free. And how long, he wondered, would that freedom last, with the arriving Americans, who saw every dark-skinned human being as something to be appropriated and sold?
No wonder this tale spawned many sequels. Hambly draws the reader into a different time and place, but examines the human heart to discover many of the same aspirations and motives as moderns. Sadly, she erred thirty years ago when she opined, “Light skin was valued and dark skin discredited, and a tremendous amount of energy went into making distinctions that seem absurdly petty today.” A good read despite trigger words.
The songs in the field. The blue bead on his ankle. The twisted steel cross in his pocket. They were verses in a bigger song, and suddenly he was aware of what the song was about. And it wasn’t just about his family, his friends, and his own sore heart.
November 26, 2023
This is an historical mystery to be read by those who love history, even if they don't read crime fiction or series.
Benjamin January is a free man of color, recently returned to his birth home of New Orleans from 16 years in Paris where he became a doctor. January is also a gifted musician - piano - and in fact that has provided most of his income since his youth. This is 1830 New Orleans, the start of Mardi Gras, and he's on his way to his evening job playing for the non-white ball when he saves from an attack someone, a white woman, he remembers from his time before leaving for France. When he encounters her again at the non-white Mardi Gras ball, he agrees to deliver a message for her. Ultimately that embroils him in a murder and since the most likely suspect is the son of a prominent white family, January must solve the murder or he will hang.
This is an outstanding debut to an historical mystery series set in 1830s New Orleans. The murder is in some ways secondary to the background, though of course, that racial and political world heavily dictates the handling of the murder by all affected and involved. Packed with research and rich background of the era, you are absolutely submerged into the complicated racial and ethnic dynamics unique to New Orleans in the 1830s. This was only a couple decades after the Louisiana Purchase by the US, and Americans are perceived as ignorant buffoons, often referred to as Kaintucks (Kentuckians by any other name) who have come down from the north and taken over the City without understanding the strict class system the rules there and no where else. I couldn't help but think of the Restoration after the Civil War, which of course has yet to come. Slavery is present, accepted, and unquestioned here. In fact, the first 50 pages or so are critical - I actually had to go back and read through it again because it is confusing as being Mardi Gras, characters are all in constumes and are referred to by name and/or by costume, and so much is established and so many critical relationships and clues are contained in those pages, it merited a second read just to be sure I had it the basics before proceeding.
This easily reads as a stand alone, but there is a whole series featuring Ben January and 1830s New Orleans. I can't wait to read the next. Can't believe this book has sat on my shelves waiting its turn to be read since it was published in 1997.
Benjamin January is a free man of color, recently returned to his birth home of New Orleans from 16 years in Paris where he became a doctor. January is also a gifted musician - piano - and in fact that has provided most of his income since his youth. This is 1830 New Orleans, the start of Mardi Gras, and he's on his way to his evening job playing for the non-white ball when he saves from an attack someone, a white woman, he remembers from his time before leaving for France. When he encounters her again at the non-white Mardi Gras ball, he agrees to deliver a message for her. Ultimately that embroils him in a murder and since the most likely suspect is the son of a prominent white family, January must solve the murder or he will hang.
This is an outstanding debut to an historical mystery series set in 1830s New Orleans. The murder is in some ways secondary to the background, though of course, that racial and political world heavily dictates the handling of the murder by all affected and involved. Packed with research and rich background of the era, you are absolutely submerged into the complicated racial and ethnic dynamics unique to New Orleans in the 1830s. This was only a couple decades after the Louisiana Purchase by the US, and Americans are perceived as ignorant buffoons, often referred to as Kaintucks (Kentuckians by any other name) who have come down from the north and taken over the City without understanding the strict class system the rules there and no where else. I couldn't help but think of the Restoration after the Civil War, which of course has yet to come. Slavery is present, accepted, and unquestioned here. In fact, the first 50 pages or so are critical - I actually had to go back and read through it again because it is confusing as being Mardi Gras, characters are all in constumes and are referred to by name and/or by costume, and so much is established and so many critical relationships and clues are contained in those pages, it merited a second read just to be sure I had it the basics before proceeding.
This easily reads as a stand alone, but there is a whole series featuring Ben January and 1830s New Orleans. I can't wait to read the next. Can't believe this book has sat on my shelves waiting its turn to be read since it was published in 1997.
August 21, 2014
Barbara Hambly has written some of my very favorite fantasy novels. She’s also famous for the Benjamin January series, about a free black man who solves mysteries in 1830s New Orleans.
I never got around to reading these, despite hearing very positive things, because American historical racism— particularly in the slavery era— is something I find crushingly depressing. Just to be clear: contemporary racism is also depressing. However, there’s certain topics which I personally find really hard to handle, either from over-exposure or just because. Slavery in America is in the top five, along with the Holocaust. I am also a very hard sell on books set in concentration camps.
However, several friends pointed out to me that the Benjamin January series is not solely about racism, and that later books in the series focus more on adventuring. Also that there’s dueling, hurt-comfort, and pirates, and that really the series is about found family and community.
I give you this preface in case you’ve also been avoiding the series for fear of crushing depressingness. This book is not crushingly depressing! I really enjoyed it. Also, for those of you who like worldbuilding, it creates an engrossing, vivid, complex, and, as far as I’m aware, extremely historically accurate milieu. Lots of suspense! Great female characters. Also great male characters. Even very minor characters, who appear only for a scene or two, often suggest an entire novel’s worth of backstory.
I am horrible at following the plots of mysteries and basically read them for the characters and the setting. So I will avoid a close description of the plot. I will just say that Benjamin January was born a slave and freed as a child, became a surgeon in Paris but couldn’t make a living because he was black, and recently moved back to New Orleans after his wife died because everything in Paris reminded him of her.
New Orleans is both familiar and foreign to him after his long absence, which makes him a perfect narrator: he knows everything the reader needs to know, and notices everything because it’s all slightly alien to him. He’s a believably honorable and decent person who tries his best to do the right thing, even in circumstances that make that seem like the worst possible option.
A woman is murdered at a ball, and he’s sucked deeper and deeper into the investigation. The mystery is cleverly constructed, but it’s also an excuse to introduce the society, the characters, and their complex relationships. January is intensely conscious of everyone’s place in society, including his own; the scenes which I did find hard to read were the ones where he’s forced to abase himself to white people in order to survive. Like noir, the murder investigation inevitably uncovers the rot and injustice in society; unlike noir, people who take care of each other and try to do the right thing may well triumph.
I found the novel interesting but slow going for about the first two thirds. There are a lot of characters, some of whom have several names, and I kept losing track of the minor ones. But at that two-thirds mark, January leaves New Orleans to investigate, and the book becomes incredibly suspenseful from that point on. Also, a certain favorite thing of mine makes a delightful surprise appearance that I won't spoil.
I will definitely read more of this. Especially now that I’ve figured out who everyone is and how they’re related. I spent an embarrassingly long time thinking that Minou and Dominique were two different people rather than one person with a nickname.
(I also did this in the Lymond chronicles, which had a character named something like Edmund, Earl of Sandwich, who was alternately called Edmund and Sandwich. It took me two books to figure out that they were the same guy. You’d think I’d have less trouble with movies, but I once was startled when the black-haired, blue-eyed protagonist of a war movie reappeared after his tragic death. I then realized that there were two black-haired, blue-eyed soldiers.)
In short: if you want to read a meticulously researched historical novel in which intersectionality is essential to the story, this book is it. But if that’s all you’ve previously heard about it, I wanted to point out that it’s also surprisingly fun. Daring escapes and dramatic battles figure prominently in the last third.
I never got around to reading these, despite hearing very positive things, because American historical racism— particularly in the slavery era— is something I find crushingly depressing. Just to be clear: contemporary racism is also depressing. However, there’s certain topics which I personally find really hard to handle, either from over-exposure or just because. Slavery in America is in the top five, along with the Holocaust. I am also a very hard sell on books set in concentration camps.
However, several friends pointed out to me that the Benjamin January series is not solely about racism, and that later books in the series focus more on adventuring. Also that there’s dueling, hurt-comfort, and pirates, and that really the series is about found family and community.
I give you this preface in case you’ve also been avoiding the series for fear of crushing depressingness. This book is not crushingly depressing! I really enjoyed it. Also, for those of you who like worldbuilding, it creates an engrossing, vivid, complex, and, as far as I’m aware, extremely historically accurate milieu. Lots of suspense! Great female characters. Also great male characters. Even very minor characters, who appear only for a scene or two, often suggest an entire novel’s worth of backstory.
I am horrible at following the plots of mysteries and basically read them for the characters and the setting. So I will avoid a close description of the plot. I will just say that Benjamin January was born a slave and freed as a child, became a surgeon in Paris but couldn’t make a living because he was black, and recently moved back to New Orleans after his wife died because everything in Paris reminded him of her.
New Orleans is both familiar and foreign to him after his long absence, which makes him a perfect narrator: he knows everything the reader needs to know, and notices everything because it’s all slightly alien to him. He’s a believably honorable and decent person who tries his best to do the right thing, even in circumstances that make that seem like the worst possible option.
A woman is murdered at a ball, and he’s sucked deeper and deeper into the investigation. The mystery is cleverly constructed, but it’s also an excuse to introduce the society, the characters, and their complex relationships. January is intensely conscious of everyone’s place in society, including his own; the scenes which I did find hard to read were the ones where he’s forced to abase himself to white people in order to survive. Like noir, the murder investigation inevitably uncovers the rot and injustice in society; unlike noir, people who take care of each other and try to do the right thing may well triumph.
I found the novel interesting but slow going for about the first two thirds. There are a lot of characters, some of whom have several names, and I kept losing track of the minor ones. But at that two-thirds mark, January leaves New Orleans to investigate, and the book becomes incredibly suspenseful from that point on. Also, a certain favorite thing of mine makes a delightful surprise appearance that I won't spoil.
I will definitely read more of this. Especially now that I’ve figured out who everyone is and how they’re related. I spent an embarrassingly long time thinking that Minou and Dominique were two different people rather than one person with a nickname.
(I also did this in the Lymond chronicles, which had a character named something like Edmund, Earl of Sandwich, who was alternately called Edmund and Sandwich. It took me two books to figure out that they were the same guy. You’d think I’d have less trouble with movies, but I once was startled when the black-haired, blue-eyed protagonist of a war movie reappeared after his tragic death. I then realized that there were two black-haired, blue-eyed soldiers.)
In short: if you want to read a meticulously researched historical novel in which intersectionality is essential to the story, this book is it. But if that’s all you’ve previously heard about it, I wanted to point out that it’s also surprisingly fun. Daring escapes and dramatic battles figure prominently in the last third.
November 12, 2021
It had been a French city then, with the French understanding of who, and what, the free colored actually were: a race of not-quite-acknowledged cousins, neither African nor European, but property holders, artisans, citizens. [loc. 2034]
In 1817, Benjamin January left New Orleans for Paris. In 1833, after the death of his wife, he returns to a city that has changed in his absence -- and not for the better. January is the eponymous 'free man of color': born a slave but freed as a child, he is a dark-skinned Black man, trained as both a surgeon and a musician. In New Orleans, with its complex hierarchy of Blackness (mulatto, quadroon, octoroon) and its institutional plaçage -- a civil, extralegal union between a white man and a mixed-race woman -- January has to readjust to being treated as an inferior. He has to allow a white man to strike him without raising a hand in his own defense. And when a quadroon woman is murdered (with January apparently being the last person to see her alive) he has little chance of justice, unless he finds it for himself.
I think I read a novel in this series a long time ago: I don't remember much about it, and that may be because, like all the best series, there is a strong core cast of characters who become familiar to the reader. Jumping in at the deep end means flailing without context. This time, I started at the beginning (thanks to Lockdown Bookclub) and very much enjoyed this well-written, well-researched novel. Given the times we live in, and the fact that Barbara Hambly is white, I was surprised not to read reviews about cultural appropriation, racism, privilege: but Hambly treats her subject and her characters with respect. She doesn't shy from the more horrific aspects of slavery and racism, but also doesn't dwell exclusively on this side of the story. Bad things happen to good people, true, but good things happen too, and there are moments of beauty and peace even in January's memories of life as a slave.
The murder mystery is suitably twisty, the characters -- especially the marvellous Prussian fencing master, Mayerling -- intriguing, and the descriptions of 19th-century New Orleans (a city I visited just once, years before Katrina) evocative and compelling. I have every intention of reading more in the series.
Oh, and from the Afterword: "All my thanks and humble gratitude go to Octavia Butler for her time and consideration in reading the original of this manuscript and for her invaluable comments."
June 1, 2013
I always enjoy Barbara Hambly's work, and I'll certainly read more of this series. The setting is richly detailed and convincingly rendered, in a way that supports the story rather than distracting from it. It's also a real mystery, and a fair one -- the clues are there if you're not too carried away by the narrative to stop and look for them.
The time at which it's set is an interesting one -- after the Louisiana purchase, the dreaded Americans and their money and their projects are coming into town and upsetting the social order. Everything's changing, mostly not in a good way -- though they were far from perfect before.
The precarious situation of the "free colored" in this environment is an important part of the tension that carries the story forward. Most people January meets basically have the ability to destroy his life at a whim, and he can't even count on the slaves to have his back. There's a nuanced social order, a caste system ranging from black slaves at the low end through free colored, then women, with an ongoing struggle at the top between the Creole and American (men, of course).
For those who enjoy mysteries and speculative fiction: though set in the US, this is largely an alien culture. It's not like what you know.
The time at which it's set is an interesting one -- after the Louisiana purchase, the dreaded Americans and their money and their projects are coming into town and upsetting the social order. Everything's changing, mostly not in a good way -- though they were far from perfect before.
The precarious situation of the "free colored" in this environment is an important part of the tension that carries the story forward. Most people January meets basically have the ability to destroy his life at a whim, and he can't even count on the slaves to have his back. There's a nuanced social order, a caste system ranging from black slaves at the low end through free colored, then women, with an ongoing struggle at the top between the Creole and American (men, of course).
For those who enjoy mysteries and speculative fiction: though set in the US, this is largely an alien culture. It's not like what you know.
July 16, 2016
I discovered this series by accident, picking up somewhere in the middle of it. Luckily, the books are able to stand on their own without starting at the beginning!
Anyway, this book introduces Benjamin Janvier, a free man of color in Jacksonian New Orleans. He is a musician by trade, although he studied in Paris to be a surgeon. He is the pianist at a quadroon ball where one of the demimonde's most sought after plaçees (a free woman of color who is a white man's mistress) is murdered ... and because he is so quickly on the scene to examine the body, suspicion falls immediately upon him rather than blame a white man. Luckily for Janvier, the white American sheriff, Abishag Shaw, is a little deeper than he initially seems ... and allows Benjamin an opportunity to clear his name.
The book is peopled with real historical figures like Marie Laveau and Delphine Lalaurie, and gives an interesting look at life for both people of color and white Creoles during the time period. Furthermore, there were some surprising twists and turns in the mystery that took me by surprise (hard to do, because I read a lot of "whodunnits"), and did so in a very satisfying way.
I highly recommend this series.
Anyway, this book introduces Benjamin Janvier, a free man of color in Jacksonian New Orleans. He is a musician by trade, although he studied in Paris to be a surgeon. He is the pianist at a quadroon ball where one of the demimonde's most sought after plaçees (a free woman of color who is a white man's mistress) is murdered ... and because he is so quickly on the scene to examine the body, suspicion falls immediately upon him rather than blame a white man. Luckily for Janvier, the white American sheriff, Abishag Shaw, is a little deeper than he initially seems ... and allows Benjamin an opportunity to clear his name.
The book is peopled with real historical figures like Marie Laveau and Delphine Lalaurie, and gives an interesting look at life for both people of color and white Creoles during the time period. Furthermore, there were some surprising twists and turns in the mystery that took me by surprise (hard to do, because I read a lot of "whodunnits"), and did so in a very satisfying way.
I highly recommend this series.
June 25, 2020
WOW!!!
One of the most thought provoking historical fictional stories that I've ever read. This book was written for its entertainment value, but the educational aspect should not be overlooked. If you are a student of early American history, pre Civil War New Orleans, and languages, while also enjoying a good ole whodunit, then this series is for you. I consider myself a learned man, but I thank God for Amazon Kindle's built in Dictionary and Wikipedia!!😁😁
The protagonist of the series, Benjamin January, is an extremely gifted and complex man, at a time when men of color were not allowed to be so. A classicly trained musician and school trained surgeon, in Paris no less,, but limited by virtue of being a former slave, and a black man. Once he returns to America the limitations are even more pronounced, as you can imagine.
I found his attitudes and...psychology, especially given the time period, very interesting as he unveils himself throughout the book. It's as if he longed to shout out, "I AM A MAN!!!" So so topical, n'est-ce pas?!?!🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️ Extremely well done, as conveyed by the author.
Buy it, read it and enjoy!!👍🏾🇺🇲👍🏾🇺🇲👍🏾🇺🇲👍🏾🇺🇲👍🏾🇺🇲
One of the most thought provoking historical fictional stories that I've ever read. This book was written for its entertainment value, but the educational aspect should not be overlooked. If you are a student of early American history, pre Civil War New Orleans, and languages, while also enjoying a good ole whodunit, then this series is for you. I consider myself a learned man, but I thank God for Amazon Kindle's built in Dictionary and Wikipedia!!😁😁
The protagonist of the series, Benjamin January, is an extremely gifted and complex man, at a time when men of color were not allowed to be so. A classicly trained musician and school trained surgeon, in Paris no less,, but limited by virtue of being a former slave, and a black man. Once he returns to America the limitations are even more pronounced, as you can imagine.
I found his attitudes and...psychology, especially given the time period, very interesting as he unveils himself throughout the book. It's as if he longed to shout out, "I AM A MAN!!!" So so topical, n'est-ce pas?!?!🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️ Extremely well done, as conveyed by the author.
Buy it, read it and enjoy!!👍🏾🇺🇲👍🏾🇺🇲👍🏾🇺🇲👍🏾🇺🇲👍🏾🇺🇲
December 28, 2009
A reread, which is always rewarding with this particular book. I can't speak to the authenticity of the perspective, but I get this rush when I even just contemplate it: a surgeon, a musician...a former slave, and a man marked by the darkness of his skin in 19th-century New Orleans. Although the colored folk have carved a place for themselves in this city, it is still a place where their women are suitable as no more than contracted mistresses to wealthy landowners, and Benjamin must temper his intelligence with deference to any ignorant white man who comes along. And when a woman dies, and she is only a colored woman, January has to navigate through this tiered society to find her murderer.
March 29, 2011
This is a reread...which is, in itself, a statement about how much I love this book, in particular and the series as a whole, that I find it worth spending the time to reread. Recently, the beginning books of the Benjamin January series were converted to ebooks and I wasted no time in getting them for my Nook.
I just finished the most recent book in the series, Shirt on His Back, at the same time I was reading this first volume and it's interesting to see how much the characters are still so consistently vivid, even before their relationships had developed as far as they have in the later books. Hambly still tells a crackling good mystery and even knowing where it was going, I still enjoyed the journey very much.
I just finished the most recent book in the series, Shirt on His Back, at the same time I was reading this first volume and it's interesting to see how much the characters are still so consistently vivid, even before their relationships had developed as far as they have in the later books. Hambly still tells a crackling good mystery and even knowing where it was going, I still enjoyed the journey very much.
April 12, 2022
The intricacies of racial and class categorisation in 1830s New Orleans are byzantine and fraught, as our hero is reminded returning after many years in paris where he was trained as a doctor. Obliged to work as a musician, he becomes involved in the murder of a coloured mistress, and finds himself investigating, at first out of a sense of obligation and justice, but soon enough because he is conveniently in the frame for the crime. The setting is colourful, lush, rich and vibrant, the mystery moves from the city to a bayou pantation and back again, and in every regard is as good a historical mystery as any I've read in ages.I'm no expert on the accents, but the reader, Ron Butler, is absolutely superb.
March 1, 2012
This is a novel that deals with race politics in 1830’s New Orleans. The main character and narrator is a “free man of color” who studied medicine in France and served with Jackson in War of 1812. The novel is interesting in showing the transition from French to American control (Inhabitants felt that Napoleon had left them to be ruled by “Kaintuck” barbarians.) and how the Black Codes that had existed under the French, while still quite racist, were in many ways better than those that emerged under US control. This is an easy read for one interested in early American history who’d like bone up some of the less-covered effects of Louisiana Purchase and War of 1812.
February 15, 2015
I read the first five or six books in this series around when they came out, and then fell behind on them, for no particular reason. It's been so long I decided to reread the beginning of the series before proceeding to the new(-to-me) books. The lush descriptions of New Orleans and the complex characterization bear up well to rereading.
I hadn't realized Mme. Lalaurie appears briefly in this book (she is a major character in the next).
I hadn't realized Mme. Lalaurie appears briefly in this book (she is a major character in the next).
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