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Aug 16, 2014DorisWaggoner rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
(Spoiler alert) When Benjamin January's mother repeats the gossip that "the Turk" would just naturally be guilty of killing his concubines, he contradicts her. Huseyin Pasha, after all, saved his wife's life. No, not his beloved Rose, but his first wife, Ayasha, in Paris, 10 yrs before. This statement leads to a lovely, frightening, backstory giving more detail than we've seen before of that time of poverty and freedom. When Pasha's concubines are thrown from his house in New Orleans, the town naturally thinks he's guilty--except for January. Husein's lucky to be jailed, not lynched, and to have January, Rose, and Hannibal working to prove his innocence. One of the very best in the series, with several contrasts. For January there is his life of freedom in Paris without the constant fear of being re-enslaved he lives with in New Orleans. Diverse Paris is cosmopolitan and tolerant, compared to New Orleans, where there are opera and balls, but whites, blacks, Creoles, and "Kaintucks" are at each other's throats. As always, full of action, but also a lovely ending as Ben and Rose confront their dreams and solidify their relationship.