A Free Man of Color

By Barbara Hambly

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. . . .

Praise for A Free Man of Color

“A smashing debut. Rich and exciting with both substance and spice.”—Star Tribune, Minneapolis

“A sparkling gem.”—King Features Syndicate

“An astonishing tour de force.”—Margaret Maron

“Superb.”—Drood Review of Mystery

“A darned good murder mystery.”—USA Today

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307785275

Barbara Hambly

Barbara Hambly was born in San Diego. Her interest in fantasy began with reading The Wizard of Oz at an early age and has continued ever since. She attended the University of California, Riverside, specialising in medieval history and then spent a year at the University at Bordeaux in Southern France as a teaching and research assistant. She now lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews for A Free Man of Color

[hopeevey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an outstanding historical novel, and an outstanding mystery story. The writing is as rich as the 1800's New Orleans setting. Benjamin January is a free man of color, back in New Orleans after years in Paris. He's an outstanding musician, and a good surgeon, but called "boy" on the streets, even by people who know his skills. Right or wrong, it's the custom of the county.

Ms. Hambly manages to introduce a dizzying array of characters, all of whom have stories of their own. It makes the book very dense but also very satisfying. We see how we see how all these lives overlap and intertwine. By the end of the book, we're surprised, but it all does make sense.

A Free Man of Color is satisfying writing, moving drama, very good history, and an engaging story.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The protagonist here is Benjamin January (or Janvier), a free man of color born into slavery, but freed in childhood by his mother's Creole "protector". It is set in Louisiana in the 1830's, when the intricate hierarchy of social standing among people of color was governed by how many white grandparents a person could claim, and Creole society accommodated a man's second family of mixed race children by pretending they did not exist. January is a trained surgeon, and an accomplished musician who lived for 16 years in Paris, until the death of his wife, and has now returned to his native New Orleans. Adapting to the diminishing French influence in Louisiana society and the rise of the brutish Americans to positions of power requires January to perform an often terrifying balancing act to keep his life and his freedom. There is a murder mystery imbedded in this "novel of suspense", but the real draw here is the glimpse into the fascinating milieu that was Louisiana in the first half of the 19th century. A bit repetitious at times, not plot-driven, but very hard to put down. It is the first in a series that now includes 10 titles, and I will definitely explore these further.Review written in October, 2011

[kcollett_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First book about Benjamin January, set in 1830s New Orleans. Back from training as a surgeon in Paris after the death of his wife, Benjamin uses his skills as a musician, his knowledge as a doctor, his familiarity with the customs of the different parts of New Orleans society, and his intelligence, to try to figure out who killed a woman at a ball before those in power could conveniently blame him for her death. The uncouth American policeman is a surprising ally. Gripping and grim, but with interesting, likable people.

[altheaann · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[carol_w-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found this a very satisfying period murder mystery set in and around New Orleans in 1833. It’s a couple of decades after the Louisiana Purchase and thirty years before the American Civil War, and the precarious position of a free but dark-skinned colored man in this time and place is made starkly clear. We’re also shown the conflict between the members of a highly stylized Creole culture and the relative new-comers, the uncouth and mercenary “Americans” or “Kaintucks.” Hambly’s historian credentials give the setting a rock-solid credibility. Her well-honed storytelling skill brings the characters to life and makes their story riveting.The murder victim is a manipulative young freeborn “octoroon,” a light-skinned colored girl of the sort prized as mistresses by the Creole elite. The Kaintuck police officer investigating the case encounters resistance from various quarters when suspicion points to a young white man – much to the disgust of protagonist Benjamin January, a slave-born but Paris-educated free man of color. Disgusted though he is, January probably would not have risked himself by pursuing the case if the suspicion had not been transferred to him. Ultimately he risks both life and liberty to bring about a resolution and clear his name. The story is nail-bitingly tense in more than one place.I found the solution of the mystery to be satisfyingly logical. Some of the clues were obscure enough to make a reader-solution unlikely, but nothing worse than is common in a genre that considers itself a failure if the reader guesses the ending. I’ve never been inclined to try very hard to second-guess an author in any case. When I read a good book I tend to surrender myself to it. Let the author take me for a ride; that’s what I came for. And “A Free Man of Color” is a darned good ride.Some people may question the “right” of a white woman to write a story about the experience of black and colored people. And of course, I’m another white woman reviewing it. I would suggest that people – black people and white people – should read it before making a judgement. There is nothing over-simplified or sanitized, here. The characters (of all colors) and their motivations are complex and often morally ambiguous. Ms Hambly has clearly done her research, and the insight she brings to this highly race/color/class-conscious society has the combined power of her training as a historian and her ability as a fiction writer to put herself into characters’ heads. In creating Benjamin January, a black man with one white grandparent, who grew up in this culture and then left it in his twenties to return as a mature adult, Hambly has designed a character who can see the culture from both the inside and the outside and is therefore well positioned to mirror her insight.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Story was a little draggy and not really my cup of tea, but it was a good plot, good main character and interesting look at the 1830's in New Orleans and the ridiculous caste system in place which depended on how much white blood a person had.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Benjamin January is a free man, of color, in the 1930's. He has been in France, completed a medical degree, and is an accomplished musician. Therefore, it is quite a shock for him when he returns to his native New Orleans and the changes in attitude which have occurred in the twenty years he has been away. In spite of his education, he must earn his living as a music tutor and a piano player. When he is present at a ball where a prominent woman of questionable repute is murdered, and it becomes apparent that he was the last person known to see her alive, he realizes just how precarious his freedom and respect is. Now he must unearth the true killer and hope it isn't a white man to keep his own head out of a noose.This book is a good mystery, the clues were there for the reader, but one had to work for them. The distractions and red herrings were well done. I am glad to have read this, because it is informative of a time and place and culture which is very foreign to me. However, it did feel like a bit of a slog. There was so much information which needed to be conveyed so the reader would be able to have even a glimpse into that time, place and the people there. I found it all so, so dark, looking into the morass of the human heart. That desire which is always present to find someone who is weaker than yourself to put down. It is very ugly, and overwhelmed me to the point that the story was painful. So, I can't say I enjoyed this book. I will say that it seems well researched and is well written, the story and characters are well drawn, and I would recommend it to anyone who didn't already struggle with depression over the human condition.

[bookwoman247 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is the first in the Benjamin January series. It is a historical mystery set in 19th-Century New Orleans.When a beautiful, but viscious octoroon is murdered, January, a free black piano player/surgeon is the primary suspect, and when officials don't seem much interested in clearing him, he investigates the murdser on his own. He also covers for a pretty, young widow who was a former piano student, sticking his neck out and putting his own life at risk.

[teckelvik · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first in a series that I will definitely be following. The POV character here is Benjamin January, the "free man of color" of the title. The main character, however, is New Orleans. I spent some time there when I was younger, and loved the French Quarter, the music, the food, and the culture. It's clear to me that the author, who lives there part of each year, also loves it. She has dug deep in the unique local history and culture, and written a book about a place and time that are magic.1830s NOLA is a great setting. The city was only recently annexed by the US, and the new influx of Americans are changing the culture of the city. For January, these changes are all for the worse. He grew up in a world of creoles, French settlers, aristocratic refugees from Haiti/Santo Domingo, and Spanish grandees who have been there for generations. Their ties and interests are to Paris, where the wealthy send their children and do their shopping, not to the rest of the continent they are inhabiting. (Trivia: Josephine, empress of Napoleon Bonaparte, was a creole aristocrat.) Their comparatively tolerant racial attitudes (color matters, a lot) is being supplanted by the American assumption that all blacks are slaves, or should be. For the first time in his life, he has to carry papers showing that he is a free person, and if a white person should tear up the papers, his freedom will evaporate. Naturally he, and the rest of the colored population resent this, just as the long-time inhabitants resent the encroachment of the boorish and uncivilized Americans, who have no culture, only money.Hambly has used the setting as the backdrop of a murder. The mystery is well-plotted, and her writing is excellent. I'm not giving this 5 stars because the human characters are less well developed than the city, but I'm hoping that changes as the series develops.

[alyson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A little too much description gets in the way of the plot occasionally, but I enjoyed it and am looking foward to trying the next in the series.

[bellamiaow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Historical fiction isn't my favorite genre, but I'm much more willing to read it when it's mixed with mystery. I've read some of Hambly's work before and know her to be a fine writer, and I'd read good reviews of this series by people I respect, so I decided to give it a whirl.I suppose all the descriptions of people's clothing would have mattered much more to someone who cared about such things, but I do realize that they were important in the context of the story. Personally, I was relieved when the main character went on a journey! I would have been happier had his medical skills been utilized more frequently than they were, but I suppose his experiences were fairly true to life for a "colored" man of his time.I did learn quite a lot—things that I intend to verify in non-fiction sources shortly. The information about the black code, for instance, and the explanation of the distinction between "black" and "colored" people seemed too precise to be fabricated. I knew, too, that Louisiana is the only U.S. state whose laws are based on French rather than English common law, which seemed silly to me. Why wouldn't they go with the standard everyone else used? After reading this novel, I'm starting to realize that there may have been rights given to citizens under French law that were lost under English law.I'm not sure as to whether or not I'll go forward in the series, as I'm not sure that I can handle the unhappiness I can see foreshadowed even in some of the titles. However, I will say that this volume is well-written and well-plotted. I certainly didn't guess who the killer was or why the murder was committed before the big reveal, and that was a pleasant change!

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After reading the historical mystery, A Free Man of Color by Barbara Hambly, I was of two minds about this book. Part of me was disappointed in the overall slowness of how the story developed. For a relatively short book (311 pages), it read as a much longer one. Set in New Orleans in 1833, the author painstakingly set the scene and put a lot of effort into our understanding of the caste system, based on color, that existed in those days. This is a first book in a series, so there were quite a few characters to be introduced and placed in the story. The main character, Benjamin January, is a likeable, competent hero, and I found most of the secondary characters appealing as well.About halfway through the book, the story did pick up and I got more involved in the actual mystery. The ending was satisfactory and wrapped up most of the story lines. Through the whole book, however, I always felt that New Orleans itself was the author’s main focus and the mystery was secondary. I will definitely try the second book in this series in the hope that the author takes as much time to flesh out the characters as she did in this book with the setting. In Ben January, a free black man, trained as a surgeon and working as a musician, she has a character worth developing. This author is great at delivering the history, I also hope that she delivers on the mystery next time as well.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

New Orleans, 1833. African American musician and ex-physician Benjamin January discovers a woman's murdered body at one of the quadroon balls leading up to Mardi Gras. January was one of the last people to see her alive. He would prefer not to be involved at all, but since pinning the murder on January would solve a lot of problems for the white authorities, he must find the real murderer to keep himself from being hanged for it. His hunt for the murderer endangers both his freedom and his life.This first book in Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January series was educational as well as entertaining. It was interesting to read about the caste structure in antebellum New Orleans, and the disruption caused by the encroachment of Americans and their value system. There was a surprising plot twist at the end that seemed out of place for 1833, and it caused me to lower my rating. I still enjoyed the book, though, and I've added the next one to my reading wish list.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A Free Man of Color is a very descriptive novel, the sights and sounds of 19th Century New Orleans being described in great detail. This makes for a very rich text, but I found it personally difficult to read at times. As a reader, I am much more interested in the characters and their development than the setting. Barbara Hambly's novel does have some very interesting characters, including the musician and surgeon Benjamin January, a free man of color, who has just returned to New Orleans after 16 years in Paris. The author clearly researched the place and time very well, providing details on New Orleans' social castes and their interactions. Overall, A Free Man of Color was a good read, but sometimes difficult to get through and I am not certain I will read more in the series.

[jim53_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I picked this one up because I had snagged the sequel, Fever Season, at library book sale. Set in New Orleans in the 1830s, it features Benjamin January, who is three-fourths black, which differentiates him from full blacks, mulattos, quadroons, octoroons, and whites. Hambly has done her research and fills us in on the significances of racial differences and issues. When a young woman is killed at a ball in the week leading up to Mardi Gras, January myst solve the crime to avoid having it pinned on him.January is not fabulous but is a pretty interesting character. He moved to Paris and worked as a musician and a surgeon, married, and returned home to NO after the death of his wife. His experiences elsewhere give him perspective on "how things are" in New Orleans. He is very conscious of what he must do to survive, but has enough pride to hate doing it. His relationship with an uneducated, inarticulate white police lieutenant has some interesting moments.The book takes a long time to get going, as Hambly does a lot of scene-setting and introduces a lot of characters of different racial compositions and social stations. We don't know for quite a while who are the central players and who are secondary. This is not in itself terrible, but it made it a little tough to get my bearings in the first 150 pages. After that, we had seen some characters enough to get the hang of who and what they were, and follow the story more easily. The book's final third moves along swiftly and takes good advantage of the setting Hambly has established.Once the pace picked up and I had my bearings, I found this an enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

[cmbohn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Benjamin January is a colored man, a griffe. In his day, that meant he was 3/4 black, with a black father and a mulatto mother. His sister is a quadroon - 3/4 white. In New Orleans, pre-Civil War, that matters. Everything about race, and even about nationality, matters a lot. It defines who you are and what opportunities are open to you. Benjamin is a musician, but he also trained as a surgeon in Paris. He lived there with his wife for several years, but after her death, he returns to his hometown.Much has changed since he has been gone. Suddenly the Americans are moving in. The British and French, which didn't much get along with each other but at least understood 'the custom of the country,' are being bought out by brash new Americans who only understand two things - money, and the color of your skin. Benjamin as a colored man cannot find work as a surgeon, only as a musician. He's playing the quadroon ball during Mardi Gras when one of the women is found murdered. He knows the owner of the hotel is not about to call in the police to investigate. After all, the woman is basically a courtesan, and the suspects are powerful and wealthy white men. But Benjamin is so sick of this kind of prejudice that he begins to ask questions himself. Next thing he knows, the police have been happy to investigate a much less tricky suspect - him.I really enjoyed this book. Benjamin is a great character with a complicated background. Being away from home so much gives his a different perspective on things that the other characters take for granted. I realized that this was a time period I knew practically nothing about, but certainly a place I'd love to read about again. 5 stars.

[richardderus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[kirconnell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is 1830's New Orleans and Benjamin January has returned home from France after the death of his wife. Unfortunately he has forgotten how very different attitudes toward blacks are in the Americas. Hambly describes the extensive caste system arrising from interracial relations with great sensitivity and attention to detail. I was also impressed by her descriptions of New Orleans and Louisiana in this historical period. You can smell the sweetness of honeysuckle and jasmine as well as the less savory smells of the slums. At quiet times I could almost feel as if I was walking the streets with Ben. Now, that is good writing. The plot itself is a well written mystery involving intrigue, deception, and murder with a twist at the end. Recommended.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well written Detective story from a fantasy master. Annoyingly it is described by some reviewers as her ‘debut’ novel, but sometimes people don’t notice little things like the author writing for about 10 years or so. New Orleans is the locations and the setting is well depicted. Pre civil war, New Orleans has a different attitude in some ways to people of colour. Still Benjamin can’t get a job as a surgeon or doctor - where he is qualified and practiced in Paris, he is forced to work as a musician. Then a woman - a mistress of a powerful man in the city - is murdered and he was the last person seen near her. Not only did I enjoy it but I passed it on to a work colleague and she enjoyed it too.