A Free Man of Color

Rating:
Summary: A work of art
Review: "Free Man of Color" evokes the splendor, gaiety and troubles of New Orleans in the early 19th century, when the Americans were uncouth newcomers. The book is expertly plotted and the characters are vivid without crowding out events. Once the book is read, however, it is not "who done it" that will linger in the reader's mind, but the images of this past time and place -- quadroon balls, sugar plantations, slave dances in Congo Square, Kaintuck traders, and "the custom of the country." Along the way, Ms. Hambly gently corrects a chunk of the folklore that I, at least, was taught in grade school as "history" (she does the same thing with Rome in "Search the Seven Hills"). I would recommend this book to any lover of a well-paced plot and well-used language, not just mystery fans.

Rating:
Summary: Characters, plot, dialogue and setting!
Review: After reading this novel I feel like I have lived in New Orleans in 1833, met some facinating people, almost understand how complex their lives were and the subtle influence color and class had on their lives; but most of all I admire and respect Ben January and want to read more of his adventures. I love mysteries but sometimes feel they are pretty shallow - not this one! A rich and enduring novel that is also an adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to get into, hard to put down
Review: At first, it is difficult to understand what Barbara Hambly was attempting with "A Free Man of Color". Typically, when an author chooses an historical setting, he or she is doing one of two things, bringing light to the past through the artifice of fiction or revealing the present through the veil of the past. If Hambly was doing the former, she did a fine job of evoking old New Orleans. The book takes place during a time when The City That Care Forgot was losing her tenuous grip on her past and becoming a unique product of American industrialism and European traditions. The Civil War was still thirty years in the future and New Orleans, for all the destruction and disease she had seen, for all the blood spilled in her streets still had an air of innocence. This is the story of Benjamin Janvier, recently widowed and returning to New Orleans after 16 years in Paris. This places Benjamin in the unique position of being able to contrast Paris, with it's lack of color distinctions, and New Orleans, with it's infamous "Code Noir" - the well-defined laws governing the behavior of "colored" people and their interaction with the French settlers, or Creoles. This also places the reader in the position of comparing the treatment of blacks in Janvier's day and their treatment today, which makes this something of the latter of the above kinds of novels. Is Hambly trying to tell an engaging and accurately detailed story set in the past? Or is she trying to poignantly underline current wrongs by speaking to us through the past? I'm not sure she is certain which story she wants to tell, which puts the reader in the awkward position of trying to figure it out for themselves. Ben, a surgeon in Paris but, due to prejudice, unable to practice medicine in New Orleans, makes his living as a pianist. On his way to play at an octaroon ball, he runs into one of his former students, Mistress Trepagier, a creole widow who is sneaking into the ball in disguise, desperate to speak with her late husband's mistress. When the mistress is later strangled, Ben, due to his color, seems a likely scapegoat - the victim was a woman of color, the murderer a man of color. Let's hang him and get on with our lives. Thinking he will get no consideration from the police, Benjamin looks into the murder on his own. Hambly seems to have difficulty finding the rhythm in her narrative, like a drummer only slightly out of step with the rest of the marching band. The overall effect is nice, but you keep suspecting her hitching a step in order to catch up. Once she gets in step, however, the effect is mesmerising; the language becomes more fluid, the characters more honest to themselves. From an historical perspective, I fully expected to have Marie Laveau pop up, at least in mention, and I was not disappointed; the greater treat was a cameo by Madame LaLaurie, the famous New Orleans civil rights activist (I'm kidding, of course). Although I had to struggle to get comfortable with this book, it won me over in the end. I am looking forward to the next story in the Benjamin Janvier chronicles.

Rating:
Summary: Rich in description, entertaining and historically rich
Review: Barbara Hambly is a wonderful writer. This book was so extremely colorful and rich in detail that I had to stop at times and go back to read a passage. You could just see these balls as if you were right there in the room. I read very few murder mysteries and I found this one to be very different from the ones I have read--mixed with some history from the 19th century made the story extremely interesting. With all the vivid description, I did find this book a little difficult to start but don't spend too much time trying to analyze when reading this book--it all comes together with the turn of each page. I would definitely look for other books by Ms. Hambly--her research is worth the money.

Rating:
Summary: A Free Man of Color is a book that must not be missed!
Review: Barbara Hambly is an artist who works with words instead of paint. In "A Free Man of Color" Hambly paints pictures that stay in the reader's head. She brings 1833 New Orleans to life so realistically that the reader walks the city's streets with the main character Benjamin January. I will give away nothing of the plot except to say that January must solve a murder while at the same time preventing himself from being either hanged for the crime or sold into slavery. In January, Hambly creates a complex man. He is intelligent. He is gifted. He is admirable. The reader cheers for January. The book holds the reader until the very last sentence. You won't be able to put it down. Hambly is a breath of fresh air in the writing world. She is a jewel. And she is a must for any serious reader.

Rating:
Summary: Walk on gilded splinters
Review: Ever wanted to go back in time? Just hop in the time machine and see the past? Read this; you'll be cured. Hambly leads us down a muddy path into New Orleans at the height of the slavery days, and shows it to us in all its stinking glory through the educated eyes of freeman Benjamin January; a Paris-educated 'colored' whose surgical training and skill on the piano mean little to the white inhabitants of the French-speaking city. January has fled Paris to escape the ghost of his cholera-slain wife, and is a cultured fellow who gives us a slightly modern viewpoint as he struggles to fit back into a world in which he is not allowed to look a white in the eye. Hambly starts with a glossary of the names used to distinguish degrees of prized white blood: octoroon, griffe, sambo. The rich planters all have octoroon or quadroon mistresses, who live in houses bought by their protectors through their mothers' negotiations, and who birth more octoroons and quadroons for the 'placee' system. The white and colored balls are held side by side, and the men circulate between wife and mistress all night. It's not a pretty picture, and January, from his vantage point as the pianist on the white side, sees it all ... all except the moment when a colored girl is strangled, and the blame begins to shift his way. January must solve the crime himself or be blamed for it, and risking slavery, voodoo, and humiliation along the way, solve it he does. Every character in this book, from the Prussian swordmaster Mayerling to the old scarfaced Ewe tribesman Lucius, is trapped in the web of their unsavory culture. It's a clear indictment of the human race; we should all be whipped for letting stuff like this go on. Only the outsiders like Ben and the ridiculous Kaintuck policeman Abishag Shaw have a chance to rise above the steamy, muck-filled gutters and see a hopeful future. A good mystery book, too: all the clues are there if you look back. But I think I'm developing a prejudice against white people after reading it ...

Rating:
Summary: Black, colored -- or simply human?
Review: FREE MAN OF COLOR is a terrific book that gets all the details right. New Orleans is affected to this day by the society so well depicted in this fine historical mystery. Ben January (or, more correctly, Janvier) wants not so much to be a white man as to be a Frenchman. Much of his angst has to do with the growing influence of the newly-arrived Americans on his beloved city, and their belief that any man with a dark skin not only should, but must be a slave. The murder of a placee - a light-skinned colored woman who is raised to be a part of the demi-monde (a la GIGI)- provides the author an opportunity to shine a light on this fascinating piece of our cultural history. This is the story Anne Rice tried to tell in FEAST OF ALL SAINTS, but Barbara Hambley does it much better

Rating:
Summary: A Free Man of Color Traps The Reader
Review: I agree with several of the reviewers that this book was difficult to get into and Ms. Hambly added a tremendous amount of detail...that is where I end my agreement with those readers that felt it was too much information. I think we sometimes get lazy and just want the facts. To often we just want story to move along quickly. Yes, I struggled to keep the characters straight and this was definately not the best book for reading on the subway 5 to 10 minutes at a time. But it was wonderful and brought the reality of people outside the norm (indians, blacks and the poor) to the fore and lets those who don't understand their plight an opportunity to get it. I loved the book! But it is best read where you can concentrate on the content.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably good!
Review: I can't understand how anyone can "get lost" in the book. I had no trouble keeping up with everything and everyone, and agree with the reviewer who said she sometimes went back to reread a passage. Too many details? Hah. I wouldn't trust anyone who said so to have ever read any history. A magical time travel, a marvelously colorful panorama, that's what this book is. Read it, by all means.

Rating:
Summary: Great, Rich Story, Sorely in Need of an Editor
Review: I had gotten this book for a friend, and it arrived the same time my computer went down, so I read it to see why she had become so enthralled with this series. I found it to be a great plot for an historical murder mystery with compelling detail, but the poor writing and, most of all, the very poor editing, nagged at me the whole time I read it. I really don't think that accumulated dust was referred to as "dust bunnies" in 1830? Sentences and paragraphs popped up at the oddest times, many so poorly constructed, I did not know their meaning even after several re-readings. Such inaccuracies and awkwardness distracted me as I read the book, as did the shallow character development. It was if this prolific author had spent a few months in New Orleans (the dust jacket of this book said she lived half in New Orleans, half in Los Angeles - later books said Los Angeles only), obviously having spent a lot of time at the Historic New Orleans Collection, a good start. But Ms Hambly's attempt at lively writing through the myriad details in the book, while certainly bringing the story alive for those who are not that familiar with New Orleans life & and its people, failed for anybody who has delved into the background of the city and lived in it with more than a desire to record its details for pulp fiction, written in very much of a hurry. Perhaps Ms Hambly could take some time to learn the art of writing and Bantam the art of editing. Then perhaps her compelling vision and historical fastidiousness could reach its potential