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Benjamin January #9
Dead and Buried
New Orleans, 1836. When free black musician and surgeon Benjamin January attends the funeral of a friend, an accident tips the dead man out of his coffin – only to reveal an unexpected inhabitant. Just one person recognises the corpse of the white man: Hannibal Sefton, fiddle-player and one of January’s closest friends. But he seems unwilling to talk about his connection to the dead man .
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
35 people are currently reading
476 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Hambly
205 books1,591 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 85 reviews
September 22, 2010
As a woman of color and a native New Orleanian, I have always been fascinated by the world so vividly portrayed in the Free Man of Color series. Finding a new book in the series was a happy surprise -- I can only hope more lovers of Benjamin January will become aware that this one exists, since it is not being published or marketed by the same publishing house that released the previous books in the series.
To tell the truth, I found many passages of this book to be too difficult to read in detail. This is a testament to Barbara Hambly's skill with bringing history to throbbing, bleeding life. Her descriptions of the divide between the American and French communities and of the weaving roads between the white French families and the gens de couleur, both free and enslaved, have deepened my understanding of the past I come from in a way that no history book could quite have accomplished.
To tell the truth, I found many passages of this book to be too difficult to read in detail. This is a testament to Barbara Hambly's skill with bringing history to throbbing, bleeding life. Her descriptions of the divide between the American and French communities and of the weaving roads between the white French families and the gens de couleur, both free and enslaved, have deepened my understanding of the past I come from in a way that no history book could quite have accomplished.
April 14, 2010
Barbara Hambly is on top of her game with her new Benjamin January book. I always enjoy what a sensual writer she is. You can see, hear, smell, and taste the ambiance of nineteenth century New Orleans, with all it's beauty, injustice, and poignancy. We get to find out more about Hannibal's past in this one, and there are many cameos from past books, but not gratuitously. You'll never know the secret of the fencing master Mayerling, for example, if you haven't read the book in which he starred yet. We also see January's family, of course, Rose his wife, the tobacco-spitting Abishag Shaw, and John Davis, among others.
Dead and Buried should bring up lots of discussion about how race is perceived, since that issue plays even more of a central role than usual in this book. Human nature plays out in both heroic and villainous ways. We get a closer look at All Saints' Day. I wouldn't want to visit Benjamin January's New Orleans in the flesh to witness the sexism and racism so boldly drawn, but her books take me there vicariously. Highly recommended.
Dead and Buried should bring up lots of discussion about how race is perceived, since that issue plays even more of a central role than usual in this book. Human nature plays out in both heroic and villainous ways. We get a closer look at All Saints' Day. I wouldn't want to visit Benjamin January's New Orleans in the flesh to witness the sexism and racism so boldly drawn, but her books take me there vicariously. Highly recommended.
May 6, 2014
Charming mystery set in New Orleans in 1836, starring the likable physician and homme de couleur libre, Benjamin January. This is number nine in the series, and I had a hard time keeping track of the characters, but other than that, it worked fine as a stand-alone.
At a funeral for a black man, the coffin turns out to contain the body of a murdered Irishman. This sparks an investigation into murky family secrets, with January following clues through dark alleys and whorehouses. Fast-paced and entertaining, but also tragic and gripping. I often find historical fiction to be burdened by too much irrelevant text book period detail, but Hambly manages to convey a great sense of time and place through plain old-fashioned storytelling. The plot is clever and the unraveling of the mystery interesting, though I was even more interested in January. Now I have to decide whether to start reading the series from the beginning, or just go with the ones available at the library.
At a funeral for a black man, the coffin turns out to contain the body of a murdered Irishman. This sparks an investigation into murky family secrets, with January following clues through dark alleys and whorehouses. Fast-paced and entertaining, but also tragic and gripping. I often find historical fiction to be burdened by too much irrelevant text book period detail, but Hambly manages to convey a great sense of time and place through plain old-fashioned storytelling. The plot is clever and the unraveling of the mystery interesting, though I was even more interested in January. Now I have to decide whether to start reading the series from the beginning, or just go with the ones available at the library.
January 18, 2011
Why is this amazing book with a deeply American theme and written by an American author apparently published in Britain instead of here? This, the ninth in a series, is my first exposure to the remarkable Benjamin January, a "free man of color" and brilliant musician and surgeon, who must tread carefully in the dangerous grounds of French creole society of 1836 New Orleans. Technically, this book is a mystery, but it's really an eloquent protrait of a dying society, the nuances of skin tone, and the foreboding that things will only get worse under the rising American system of miscegenation. A terrific read, whether you care anything for mysteries or not. Apparently Barbara Hambly is much better known for her science fiction and fantasy.
January 30, 2012
I love the Benjamin January mysteries, which are set in 1830's New Orleans. This ninth novel, coming after a 6-year series hiatus, is just as good as the earlier books - Hambly's writing is rich and atmospheric, the setting is fascinating, and January is a wonderful protagonist.
In this novel we finally learn the secrets of Hannibal, the consumptive opium addict with an Irish accent and a classical education.
The French names can be daunting, but don't worry too much about keeping track of all of the characters. Hambly is pretty good at keeping the reader reminded of who everyone is, and anyway her stories seem to work even if you've forgotten whether this person is the uncle or the brother-in-law, or if this woman or that one started the fight in the casino.
In this novel we finally learn the secrets of Hannibal, the consumptive opium addict with an Irish accent and a classical education.
The French names can be daunting, but don't worry too much about keeping track of all of the characters. Hambly is pretty good at keeping the reader reminded of who everyone is, and anyway her stories seem to work even if you've forgotten whether this person is the uncle or the brother-in-law, or if this woman or that one started the fight in the casino.
May 24, 2017
I love finally finding out, ten books later, Hannibal's mysterious backstory. It is a doozy. I figured, about when Hannibal started refusing against all reason to consider that the viscount was guilty, that he was the kid's father, but I thought it had been an affair until January returned from his trip upriver.
Benjamin, man. What a good dude he is. I love that he's angry with Hannibal and (justifiably!) at the world, but that he chooses again and again to swallow it rather than letting that rage get him killed. I loved the frequent references to Brer Rabbit and how the stories taught survival at all costs.
Also, it was nice to see Shaw again. I had missed the torture of the English language.
Benjamin, man. What a good dude he is. I love that he's angry with Hannibal and (justifiably!) at the world, but that he chooses again and again to swallow it rather than letting that rage get him killed. I loved the frequent references to Brer Rabbit and how the stories taught survival at all costs.
Also, it was nice to see Shaw again. I had missed the torture of the English language.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2021
I skipped a few to get to this, but don't feel like I've missed much. Another solid entry into the series. I appreciated the Hannibal backstory but was sad at how little of Ben's family we got to see.
January 10, 2011
It's been far
too long since DEAD WATER, but here is a new book (and a new
publisher) for Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January.
It's late summer (that is, about now) in New Orleans in 1836. January,
a free man of color, trained as a physician in Paris but has been
making his living as a musician since returning to New Orleans. As the
story opens, he's playing in the funeral band for a fellow musician.
Also playing is fiddler Hannibal Sefton, the only white man in New
Orleans who treats January as an equal; Sefton is an Anglo-Irish
alcoholic and opium addict. As the coffin is being borne to the tomb,
one of the pallbearers, too drunk and too short to carry his load
reliably, stumbles -- the coffin breaks open -- and out tumbles the
corpse of a white man. Sefton recognizes the corpse and is both
surprised and grief-stricken.
Mystery piles upon mystery. Who killed Patrick Derryhick and switched
the corpses? Why were a group of upper-class Anglo-Irishmen, including
a young Viscount, in New Orleans during fever season, when all
upper-class whites had fled to cooler and healthier homes? Questions
of identity come up again and again. The plot is entirely believable,
but full of twists, turns, and terror, especially when January must
travel alone upriver to further his investigations.
Barbara Hambly writes fine historical fiction, seamlessly imparting
necessary information about a place and time usually dismissed quickly
as "ante-bellum" in our high school history classes. We see how the
Louisiana Purchase, even decades on, affects white, mixed-race, and
black people in Louisiana and the nearby areas.
Hambly shares with Kris Nelscott and Susan Straight an uncanny ability
to put the reader inside the head and heart of a character of a
different race and gender from herself. By now, I feel I know Benjamin
January and can feel at least something of what it was like to be him.
Hambly's love for New Orleans and Louisiana comes out not only in her
characters, but in her description of the places, the sights, sounds,
and smells. At one moment she can turn your stomach by evoking the
stench of the Calaboso (jail); at another you can almost taste the
fresh beignets and coffee at a local cafe.
This is one series that I would urge reading from the beginning (A
FREE MAN OF COLOR), although each book can stand on its own. There are
revelations about one character in DEAD AND BURIED which might affect
your appreciation of the earlier books if you were to read this one
first. But wherever you start, don't miss this excellent series. Need
I say -- highly recommended.
too long since DEAD WATER, but here is a new book (and a new
publisher) for Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January.
It's late summer (that is, about now) in New Orleans in 1836. January,
a free man of color, trained as a physician in Paris but has been
making his living as a musician since returning to New Orleans. As the
story opens, he's playing in the funeral band for a fellow musician.
Also playing is fiddler Hannibal Sefton, the only white man in New
Orleans who treats January as an equal; Sefton is an Anglo-Irish
alcoholic and opium addict. As the coffin is being borne to the tomb,
one of the pallbearers, too drunk and too short to carry his load
reliably, stumbles -- the coffin breaks open -- and out tumbles the
corpse of a white man. Sefton recognizes the corpse and is both
surprised and grief-stricken.
Mystery piles upon mystery. Who killed Patrick Derryhick and switched
the corpses? Why were a group of upper-class Anglo-Irishmen, including
a young Viscount, in New Orleans during fever season, when all
upper-class whites had fled to cooler and healthier homes? Questions
of identity come up again and again. The plot is entirely believable,
but full of twists, turns, and terror, especially when January must
travel alone upriver to further his investigations.
Barbara Hambly writes fine historical fiction, seamlessly imparting
necessary information about a place and time usually dismissed quickly
as "ante-bellum" in our high school history classes. We see how the
Louisiana Purchase, even decades on, affects white, mixed-race, and
black people in Louisiana and the nearby areas.
Hambly shares with Kris Nelscott and Susan Straight an uncanny ability
to put the reader inside the head and heart of a character of a
different race and gender from herself. By now, I feel I know Benjamin
January and can feel at least something of what it was like to be him.
Hambly's love for New Orleans and Louisiana comes out not only in her
characters, but in her description of the places, the sights, sounds,
and smells. At one moment she can turn your stomach by evoking the
stench of the Calaboso (jail); at another you can almost taste the
fresh beignets and coffee at a local cafe.
This is one series that I would urge reading from the beginning (A
FREE MAN OF COLOR), although each book can stand on its own. There are
revelations about one character in DEAD AND BURIED which might affect
your appreciation of the earlier books if you were to read this one
first. But wherever you start, don't miss this excellent series. Need
I say -- highly recommended.
November 11, 2013
A comment in another genre had me searching to see if I had read all of the Benjamin January series. I had read all of the earlier ones, but due to the break the author took from the series, I did not get to read Dead and Buried until now. I am so glad that I returned to this series. (Of course I had to reread a couple of the earlier ones to catch back up on the character! )
One of the main pluses to the series, and the author’s works in general, is the strong character building and world building, which pulls me as a reader into a world that is so real and so believable that I run through the full gamut of emotions when reading. This story held true to that ideal, in that we open to a funeral with all the sadness and despair that can and usually does pervade such an event. (Note – if there was a downside to this story, it was that I didn’t feel that the mourners were really in mourning so much as in parade.)
The story deals with a dead man who appears where he shouldn’t be, and as a result someone is arrested who shouldn’t be. The trauma pulls in our intrepid hero, Benjamin January, who searches first for the identity of the dead man, then the truth of how he appeared where he was, and the why of that as well.
One of the beauties of this book is that, although Ben is the person searching for answers, in this story his role is similar to that of Shaw in several of the other books: important, and frequently appearing, but not the main character. That honor goes to Benjamin January’s often-overlooked friend Hannibal Sefton – musician, drug addict, and consumptive. (Note – I don’t recall if the storyline ever actually states Hannibal’s problem, but I suspect it is tuberculosis, which at that time was a slow wasting death sentence.) As we read the intertwined story of the multiple family lines of the original funeral’s central figure, and how it intermingles with not only the mysterious dead man, we learn more about Hannibal, and where he came from. To some extent we also learn, or at least extrapolate, why he is in the Americas rather than home in his castle. We always knew he came from wealth and power, and here we see a good deal of the back story. Thank you Barbara Hambly for giving us this rich glimpse into the background of a favorite and frequent character!
Like all of the Benjamin January stories, this stands alone, but has a richer meaning and deeper impact if you read the entire series.
One of the main pluses to the series, and the author’s works in general, is the strong character building and world building, which pulls me as a reader into a world that is so real and so believable that I run through the full gamut of emotions when reading. This story held true to that ideal, in that we open to a funeral with all the sadness and despair that can and usually does pervade such an event. (Note – if there was a downside to this story, it was that I didn’t feel that the mourners were really in mourning so much as in parade.)
The story deals with a dead man who appears where he shouldn’t be, and as a result someone is arrested who shouldn’t be. The trauma pulls in our intrepid hero, Benjamin January, who searches first for the identity of the dead man, then the truth of how he appeared where he was, and the why of that as well.
One of the beauties of this book is that, although Ben is the person searching for answers, in this story his role is similar to that of Shaw in several of the other books: important, and frequently appearing, but not the main character. That honor goes to Benjamin January’s often-overlooked friend Hannibal Sefton – musician, drug addict, and consumptive. (Note – I don’t recall if the storyline ever actually states Hannibal’s problem, but I suspect it is tuberculosis, which at that time was a slow wasting death sentence.) As we read the intertwined story of the multiple family lines of the original funeral’s central figure, and how it intermingles with not only the mysterious dead man, we learn more about Hannibal, and where he came from. To some extent we also learn, or at least extrapolate, why he is in the Americas rather than home in his castle. We always knew he came from wealth and power, and here we see a good deal of the back story. Thank you Barbara Hambly for giving us this rich glimpse into the background of a favorite and frequent character!
Like all of the Benjamin January stories, this stands alone, but has a richer meaning and deeper impact if you read the entire series.
October 7, 2011
So glad the Benjamen January series of mysteries is still going! There's so much scope in this world, and the characters are so good, that it's hard to see any reason Hambly should stop anytime in the foreseeable future.
Though Benjamen January is still the main character, DEAD AND BURIED focuses more on Hannibal Sefton and we finally learn something about his past life, so that was interesting. I guess it was starting to feel strange that we didn’t know anything about him, come to think of it. I won’t say the ‘revelation’ at the end came as a shock; it’s hard to imagine any reader being surprised by it, but I didn’t feel that that was a problem. In fact, I sort of thought it added depth to the events of the story to strongly suspect the truth about . . . well, don’t want to give it away; read the book.
Biggest surprise / Biggest disappointment: Augustus Myerling makes an appearance, but there’s NO REFERENCE to his secret (revealed in the first book of the series — A FREE MAN OF COLOR). I was surprised Hambly resisted the urge to add at least an aside to clue the reader in about Myerling! I’ve always liked Augustus Myerling and would have loved to see him get more screen time in this book. In particular, when Ben had to go cross country and Hannibal couldn’t go with him, why not ask Myerling? I’d have liked to see HIM deal with those guys who gave Ben so much trouble on the journey.
However! Still a very good book, and I suggest anybody who loves historical settings start at the beginning of the January series and read 'em all.
Though Benjamen January is still the main character, DEAD AND BURIED focuses more on Hannibal Sefton and we finally learn something about his past life, so that was interesting. I guess it was starting to feel strange that we didn’t know anything about him, come to think of it. I won’t say the ‘revelation’ at the end came as a shock; it’s hard to imagine any reader being surprised by it, but I didn’t feel that that was a problem. In fact, I sort of thought it added depth to the events of the story to strongly suspect the truth about . . . well, don’t want to give it away; read the book.
Biggest surprise / Biggest disappointment: Augustus Myerling makes an appearance, but there’s NO REFERENCE to his secret (revealed in the first book of the series — A FREE MAN OF COLOR). I was surprised Hambly resisted the urge to add at least an aside to clue the reader in about Myerling! I’ve always liked Augustus Myerling and would have loved to see him get more screen time in this book. In particular, when Ben had to go cross country and Hannibal couldn’t go with him, why not ask Myerling? I’d have liked to see HIM deal with those guys who gave Ben so much trouble on the journey.
However! Still a very good book, and I suggest anybody who loves historical settings start at the beginning of the January series and read 'em all.
March 15, 2010
I'm a huge fan of the Benjamin January series (truthfully, I'm a fan of all Hambly's works), so when I heard that a British publisher was picking up the series, I was overjoyed. Hambly is one of the very few writers I will buy in hardback, no questions asked, and I sped through Dead & Buried in about a day and a half.
I enjoy Hambly's hand with a mystery; the clues are there to be followed, if embedded and hidden behind screens of historical and informational persiflage and the solving of the case never feels like it was pulled out of thin air. Too, I really enjoy the obvious research and thought she puts into her world and character building in a way that makes her protagonists fit within their lifetimes and universes while still keeping them accessible to modern readers. And I enjoy that, although I put certain pieces of the puzzle together ahead of the denouement, I didn't have all of them or a complete picture before it was revealed. After the spate of bad books I've been reading lately, this was like a lovely vacation in an oasis.
I enjoy Hambly's hand with a mystery; the clues are there to be followed, if embedded and hidden behind screens of historical and informational persiflage and the solving of the case never feels like it was pulled out of thin air. Too, I really enjoy the obvious research and thought she puts into her world and character building in a way that makes her protagonists fit within their lifetimes and universes while still keeping them accessible to modern readers. And I enjoy that, although I put certain pieces of the puzzle together ahead of the denouement, I didn't have all of them or a complete picture before it was revealed. After the spate of bad books I've been reading lately, this was like a lovely vacation in an oasis.
December 3, 2010
Man it's been a long time since I read a Benjamin January mystery, and I have missed him. I absolutely love this series, and this book is a winner too. Ms. Hambly brings her era live with this series. This book is set in New Orleans in the year 1836. This is a story of old family secrets, unrequited love and murder and betrayal. The lengths that people would go to keep these family secrets up to and including murder never cease to amaze me. I can't imagine what it was like to live in this society where class and colour were so all important. But Ms. Hambly's books give me a good idea of what it was like. And through it all we have wonderful Benjamin January trying to right old wrongs and protect his family and friends. The plotting is detailed and intricate, the characterizations so "spot-on" that I firmly believe that Benjamin January actually did live in the deep south during these years. I hope we don't have to wait quite so long for another book in this totally wonderful series. I for one can't wait to read more.
Read
September 23, 2016I enjoy the January books for a glimpse into an extremely complicated past. This particular book was not the most riveting one in the series.
January 16, 2021
I have read this book twice now. I would not suggest jumping in at this point in the series, since the book gathers some of its richness from the back stories of the characters. The descriptions of New Orleans and Louisiana are, as always, rich and engaging all the senses. The characters are complex and believable, with the humanity and humor that characterizes all of Hambly’s work. By all means if you want to read a historical who-done-it, well-plotted with appropriate clues throughout, that will make you go “Yes! I should have seen that!” at the revelation, for both of the intertwined mysteries, you should read this book. Far better to start at the beginning of the series and enjoy a meander through the world of the pre-civil war south. Enjoy! I certainly did
April 24, 2018
First of all I’ve enjoyed all the books featuring Benjamin January. An educated physician and gens decoleur. I think it would be beneficial to read the books in order to keep the characters straight. I had some difficulty even though I have read them all. However, it has been a number of years since I read the last one. The era is 1836, setting in New Orleans. Much attention is given to the divide between Americans, French, white French and the libre and the gens de coleur. I recommend this book
March 29, 2024
This whole series is so fantastic. I found it hard to keep some of the characters straight in my mind with this particular novel as it's mostly flashback and you're having to piece together the relationships, but just went with it. Every aspect of life in antebellum New Orleans is fraught as a free Black man but the intensity gets increased as surgeon, musician, and fixer Benjamin January must travel to places where his life and freedom are at risk.
And Hannibal gets more of his story told as his past comes to visit his adopted home.
And Hannibal gets more of his story told as his past comes to visit his adopted home.
April 20, 2020
As always a solid historical mystery. Every book takes a different look at a section of of the antebellum New Orleans French Creole society. The mystery itself is ok but the measures taken to resolve it were worth the time. This series is all about stepping back in time and I've yet to read someone that can do that better. I will say that besides the main plot much of it has been done before in this series.
August 19, 2019
This series, as well as being well-crafted mysteries, shed light on the horrifying "rules" imposed upon black people during these times and places. I am horrified at what Benjamin goes through, even though he is obviously an intelligent, medically trained, classically musical man. The way he is treated is dreadful - even though he is legally free and has the papers to prove it.!
May 11, 2020
January, a free black physician who sometimes has to play his violin or a piano to survive in 1830s New Orleans, goes undercover in a high class bordello to investigate if a young English aristocrat embezzled money from the Faubourg Treme Free Colored Militia and Burial Society. I always enjoy this series, but I thought this episode especially good.
April 14, 2024
This is the 9th book in the series by Barbara Hambly. Love the series. This particular story is interesting but not one of my favorites. Good start, good ending with a startling revelation but too many characters to keep straight, even with occasional reminders of who they are and who/how they are related. There were at least 4 mysteries of various sorts that sort of muddied the waters.
December 9, 2019
Came across this book accidentally and have come to enjoy it, the setting of 1830s New Orleans is new to me and fascinating. Layers of society exposed and interwoven. Not easy for me to track all the characters. Benjamin January is a very attractive protagonist.
Read
December 31, 2020This mystery set in the 19th century features a free black sleuth in New Orleans in 1836, with a white man unexpectedly falling out of the casket at a black funeral. I would read more in the series if I run across them.
December 31, 2020
I don't know how I didn't know there were more Benjamin January mysteries out there. This, like all of them, is excellent and simultaneously makes me wish I could see mid-1800's New Orleans while also making me very very glad I don't have to.
April 27, 2021
Another wonderful addition to the Benjamin January series. Moving descriptions of the culture and the cruelty and harshness of life during these times. At long last, we learn more about Hannibal!
Excellent!
Excellent!
October 2, 2023
A solid 3.5 to 4.
Started kind of slow but really got rolling in the last third.
Is few too many secrets but that’s exciting, right?
The climax is straight out of one of my favorite Nero Wolfe stories but still well done.
Started kind of slow but really got rolling in the last third.
Is few too many secrets but that’s exciting, right?
The climax is straight out of one of my favorite Nero Wolfe stories but still well done.
September 11, 2019
Finally! We learn Hannibal's story.
June 20, 2021
I take this series for granted, I think. It's good. I've become invested in the characters and I'm always happy when I get to listen to the next one. This was another solid installment.
April 22, 2024
Being so fond of Ben & Hannibal's friendship, I'm glad his backstory was shared.
May 11, 2024
Another down.
June 25, 2012
The major theme of this story is that of ‘Passing,’ something that provides plenty of conflict since the usual case is when a member of a Minority attempts to pass as a member of the Majority, everyone gets mad.
Members of the Other who are not passing get angry that the person Passing is not proud to BE a member of that ethnicity/race/religion/gender/orientation/etc. There is possibly jealously involved for the Passing member able to “get away with it” or there is anger that Passing is “putting the cause back.”
Members of the Majority get even more angry if someone is exposed as Passing amongst their ranks, vitriol anger of “how dare you trick us! How dare you pretend to be one of us! How dare you muddy the waters of the sharp and clear distinction between Us and Them! How dare you put doubts into our heads that maybe all these categories of ‘better’ groups vs. ‘lesser’ groups is all nonsense!”
It’s a hard, dangerous thing, Passing.
We see all of this, and more, in this book, because Passing is something that happens when you draw a line in the sand and say ‘everyone on this side will be treated well and everyone on the other side will be treated as sub-human’. Of course people are going to try and sneak across that line, especially when it looks like that line will never, ever be erased.
Those lines, those categories, labels, distinction, etc., are, on one hand, as insubstantial as the breath of air used to say the, but on the other hand, human minds being what they are, as solid a mountain range.
This book is an excellent examination of the issue, and a really good mystery as well, as Benjamin January examines the mixed threads of Fact and Fiction that make up the cloak of someone Passing.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews