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Sto caricando le informazioni... Die Upon a Kiss (A Benjamin January Mystery Book 5) (originale 2001; edizione 2007)di Barbara Hambly (Autore)
Informazioni sull'operaDie Upon a Kiss di Barbara Hambly (2001)
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. TOO complicated, I kept telling myself, but I liked the pomp of opera and the generous-hearted hero and his fascinating sisters. While I love the side characters of Hannibal and Shaw, EVERY scene with them involves opium for Hannibal and spitting tobacco juice for Shaw. I could have used the cues for the new characters to the series, the walk-ons, whom I could not keep straight. What did I learn? A lot about slavery, New Orleans, opera. The smells and sights are vivid - I am hungry now for dirty rice and oysters. And I learned, as I did in her last novel, that it is indeed possible to develop generosity in the face of severe oppression. This book happened to catch my eye at the library. I don't think I knew that Ms. Hambly wrote mysteries before I found this volume. It's actually the 5th book featuring Benjaman January, a free man of color in New Orleans in the early 1800's. Like other Hambly characters, January is prone to omni-competence, which would detract if he wasn't such a beautifully developed character. Yes, he's both a competent surgeon and an outstanding musician, but all of it is part of who he is, not just skills tacked onto him. I feel I would recognize Mr. January if I passed him on the street. Like all Barbara Hambly's books I've read, the setting is lavish in realism and detail. The plot almost, but not quite, gets lost in the rush and whirl of New Orleans during Carnivalle. The mystery was nicely done, and the characters were all lushly real. I've already requested the first book in this series from my local library. If you're ONLY interested in the mystery aspect of a novel, skip this one. While the mystery alone is good, it only sings in the context of the setting and outstanding characters. However, if you enjoy historical fiction of any sort, if you enjoy a character-driven story, or if you're interested in what Opera was like in the early 19th century in New Orleans, read this book. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Appartiene alle SerieBenjamin January (5)
Fiction.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Historical Fiction.
HTML:In A Free Man of Color and Sold Down the River, Benjamin January guided readers through the seductive maze of New Orleans' darkest quarters. Now January joins the orchestra of the city's top opera house â?? only to become enmeshed in a web of hate and greed more murderous than any drama onstage. In 1835, the cold February streets glitter with masked revelers in Carnival costumes. An even more brilliant display is promised at the American Theater, where impresario Lorenzo Belaggio has brought the first Italian opera to town. But it's pitch-black in the muddy alley outside the stage door when Benjamin January, coming from rehearsal with the orchestra, hears a slurred whisper, sees the flash of a knife, and is himself wounded as he rescues Belaggio from a vicious attack. The bombastic impresario first accuses two of his tenors, then suspects his rival, the manager of New Orleans' other opera company. Could competition for audiences really provoke such violent skulduggery? Or has Belaggio taken too many chances in the catfight between two sopranos, one superseded by the other as his mistress and his prima donna? But burning in January's mind and heart is a darker possibility. The opera Belaggio plans to present â?? a magnificent version of Othello â?? strikes a shocking chord in this culture. Is the murderous tragedy of the noble Moor and his lady, the spectacle of a black man's passion for a white beauty, one that some Creole citizen â?? or American parvenu â?? would do anything to keep off the stage? Bloody threats and voodoo signs, poison and brutal murder seem to implicate many strange bedfellows. And Benjamin must discover who â?? in rage, retribution, or an insidious new commerce in this beautiful cutthroat city â?? will kill and kill ... and who will Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)813Literature English (North America) American fictionClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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Which means that geopolitics notwithstanding, there was plenty to enjoy. Beyond the plotlines, in fact, one could delight in discovering that ballet dancers of that era did toe dancing supported by wires, that the impresario who inserted popular tunes of the day into a Mozart opera was a philistine, of course, but following accepted custom. The denouement involving a production of Orfeo ed Eurydice featuring a chorus of Africans was shattering.
And Rose and Benjamin shared their first kiss. Talk about a slow burn. ( )