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Barbara Hambly is an author well-known to readers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. She has written a number of well-received Star Wars novels, including CHILDREN OF THE JEDI and PLANET OF TWILIGHT. Her Star Trek novels, such as ISHMAEL, have caused delight and controversy while playing with some of the stereotypes which the characters in that legendary series are so well known for. She has also created fantasy worlds of incredible depth and imagination, as set forth in her classic DRAGONSBANE , the DARWAITH TRILOGY, and its successors. And her unforgettable THOSE WHO HUNT THE NIGHT is required reading for followers of vampire lore.
What is interesting, especially considering her varied bibliography, is that Ms. Hambly's first love is history. Yet, other than BRIDE OF THE RAT GOD, set in Hollywood in the 1920s, she has rarely delved into matters historical. That, however, has changed with A FREE MAN OF COLOR.
A FREE MAN OF COLOR is set in New Orleans in 1833. New Orleans, then as now, was an extremely complex city, socially, politically and economically, and, in matters of race. Incredible distinctions were made with respect to those people of direct or mixed African ancestry. People of direct African descent were black; people of mixed white and black descent were referred to as being "of color," with further distinctions being made, by both white, and "colored," individuals on the basis of degree and extent of the individual's heritage and skin shade.
Benjamin January is A FREE MAN OF COLOR, a musician educated in classical music and a surgeon who has returned to New Orleans after several years of schooling in Paris. January, seeking to ease the pain and loss he experienced in Paris, experiences little succor in New Orleans, where, even as a free man, he is still relegated to second-class status. Unable to practice as a surgeon, he attempts to eke out a living as a musician, playing at the balls and operas which proliferated in New Orleans during this time.
Among the many popular social events in New Orleans were the quadroon balls. These were social events in which wealthy, white Creole men would meet, and select, a quadroon (child of a mulatto and full white) mistress. The man, or protector, would then support his mistress, or placee, in high fashion, though he would do so separate from his own household. Should he choose to terminate the relationship, he would often provide a settlement to his placee sufficient for her to continue to live in the fashion to which she had become accustomed. And, all the while, the wife and/or family of the protector would feign ignorance.
It is while playing at a quadroon ball that January is drawn into a web of intrigue against his own desires. He encounters a masked lady of his acquaintance, the recently widowed Mademoiselle Madeleine, who is preparing to do what, for a white woman, is simply unthinkable for that place and time: enter quadroon ball to confront Angelique Crozat, her late husband's mistress. January offers to function as an intermediary to arrange a meeting between Madeleine and Angelique. His offer quickly goes awry however, when Angelique is found brutally murdered at the ball.
The local authorities, given Angelique's place and station in society, are initially reluctant to pursue the matter. It accordingly is left to January to obtain what justice he can for her by investigating the murder himself. As the clues slowly point to the son of a wealthy, prominent, white New Orleanian, however, January, to his horror, finds himself under a cloud of suspicion which is growing ever larger and darker. The investigation takes on a new urgency as he realizes that he must find Angelique's murderer as much to obtain justice for her as to save himself.
In A FREE MAN OF COLOR, Ms. Hambly has created a work which is part historical novel, part history, and entirely fascinating, as she draws the veil of time back through her flawless plotting, tireless research and stunning characterization. Benjamin January is a character who will endure in literature --- regardless of genre --- as a good man, in a bad situation, trying to do what is right when evil is all around him. Ms. Hambly's subsequent January novels --- FEVER SEASON and GRAVEYARD DUST --- continue that tradition. Hopefully, we will see much, much more of January from Ms. Hambly.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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