Hagar

[brigdh]

I meant to include this in yesterday's Reading Wednesday, but then I forgot, oops. And since I don't want to wait until next Wednesday (and possibly forget again...), let's just do this now!

Has anyone read Hagar, the new Benjamin January short story? And by short story, I don't mean fic, I mean a real canonical story, by Barbara Hambly! If you have not yet read it, it's up for sale on her webpage here. Hagar is set during Good Man Friday, but is set back on a plantation in Louisiana, where Rose, Hannibal, and Livia investigate a murder. IT IS SO GOOD YOU GUYS. SO GOOD.

I really love Rose's POV and hope we continue to get more written in it (I assume the books will probably stick to Ben's POV, but more short stories!). And maybe one in Hannibal's, someday? I don't know; he might not actually make a very good narrator. It's also a very good story if you ship Rose/Hannibal, and I totally do. But the best thing about this story is everything that happens with Livia, which is just amazing, and ahhhhh, it's so good.

So, has anyone else read it? I want to talk!

Comments

[egelantier.livejournal.com]

oh, i always thought that ben - along with the overall narrative - always appreciated livia just fine; the books are also very honest and very respectful about her. she's kind of terrible, but also always unequivocally a fighter and a survivor, and has earned her right to be as terrible as she wants, proudly. it's also evident in how much rose and hannibal, both unobliged outsiders, honestly respect her.

but i also always thought she cared, to the extent she could allow herself to, from beyond her obvious and understandable denial of much of her past, and it was a joy to see her actually allow herself to spell it out in actions and words in hagar. and i ADORE that she clearly loves both ben's wife and boyfriend, and values ben's smartness, and values her first husband even when - absolutely truthfully - recognizes he couldn't help her. all around wonderful characterisation, here.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

and i ADORE that she clearly loves both ben's wife and boyfriend, and values ben's smartness, and values her first husband even

Yes, one of the loveliest things about this story is how much everyone cares about each other and shows it. Between Rose and Livia and Hannibal and (absent) Ben, obviously, but also so many other people: Grandma Corbier and Livia's in-laws and Gabriel and even the poor maid when she thought her mistress was dead, though clearly the woman hated her.