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Average Customer Rating:

A Decadent, "Historical" Tale

Customer Rating:

Although most of her legion of fans may not immediately recognize them, Anne Rice has written two excellent works of historical fiction, having nothing whatsoever to do with vampires, witches, mummies sex, or even Jesus Christ. The other work, "Cry to Heaven", is the account of one of the famous castrati, young boys subjected to horrible personal degredation in the pursuit of art. This is the other. Feast of All Saints covers the Gens de Couleur Libre-- the Free Persons of Colour, a special class within Southern society made up of tradespersons and freed slaves. Like all Antebellum Southern society, this special enclave was filled wtih the twists and turns and endless social and societal requirements placed on it from within and without, while also dealing with the constant, pressing spectre of their place in the greater society of the city of New Orleans and the South in general. Rice creates a compelling tale of the rise and fall of a number of intertwined Gens families in the Quarter, showing how they come to terms with their roles in society, their own families, and their own lives. It is well-written and compelling, and Rice shows an excellent understanding of their Outsider mentality.

Ann Rice loves history and telling a good story.

Customer Rating:

Race is the topic of this story. Antebellum New Orleans is the setting. A city that has profoundly influenced our national culture. Not just its world-altering music, blues and jazz, but a life view that we are still working out. Ms Rice lays open the soul of New Orleans, shaped by free persons of color and creoles, that captures our imaginations. The colors of her story are a blend of elements - the sacred and the profane, piety and mysticism, all in large portions. You are invited into her city, even better, into a family living and creating the history of its time. For a broader experience of Ann Rice's love of history and mystery read her "Cry to Heaven" it is spell-binding. BTW for the biography of a creole contemporary of the "Saints" period, check out Louis Moreau Gottschalk on Amazon, a musician-composer "rock star" of the time.

A good read for delving into your soul.	Customer Rating:
This was the first Anne Rice novel I read on a spring break from college. I cried, I got mad, I fell in love. Excellent.

Fascinating look into a unique historical period

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This book was recommended to me on my first visit to New Orleans, at which time I became fascinated by the existence of a whole class of people in New Orleans before the Civil War -- the free people of color. Anne Rice uses this historical period to write a compelling story of one family whose lives are played out against this unique societal tapestry. While today with our contemporary views we may find this societal tapestry difficult to understand, it is certainly worth reading about for the insights into the peculiar situation for free mulatto and quadroon women in New Orleans before the Civil War. And while we may not be able to agree with some of the actions of the main characters, I felt those actions were believable in light of this story. I watched the DVD of the film version later, and while interesting, it lacks the insights that the book has. -- Phyllis Zimbler Miller, Author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and co-author of SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION

History not Fantasy

Customer Rating:

my favorite Anne Rice novel -- historical fiction that evokes New Orleans in the mid 1800's through the eyes of a mulatto boy coming to maturity in the French Quarter, son of an upriver white planter and a free woman of color. A portrait of the complex and little known Creole society that included scholars, artists, craftsmen, even opera singers, whose members enjoyed a strange status - able to own property, even slaves, but disenfranchised and relegated to subservience to even base whites. Fascinating! and complete in one tightly written volume!