Feast of All Saints [Mass Market Paperback]

Anne Rice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 12, 1981

Set in New Orleans before the American Civil War, this is the story of the "Free People of Color", descended from slaves, and their French and Spanish owners. Among their number is Marcel, an artist in the making, also his gentle sister Marie and Anna Bella, a beautiful young courtesan.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

In the days before the Civil War, there lived a Louisiana people unique in Southern histroy. Though descended from African slaves, they were also descended from the French and Spanish who enslaved them. Called the Free People of Color, this dazzling historical novel chronicles the lives of four of them--men and women caught perilously between the worlds of master and slave, privilege and oppression, passion and pain. --This text refers to an alternate Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Anne Rice is the author of nineteen books. She lives in New Orleans with her husband, the poet and painter Stan Rice.

About the Reader
Courtney B. Vance has been nominated for the Tony Award for his performances in Fences and Six Degrees of Separation.  He appeared in the films The Hunt for Red October and Hamburger Hill, and on television in Law and Order and thirtysomething. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett (March 12, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449243788
• ISBN-13: 978-0449243787
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,172,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in English and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.

She is the author of over 30 books, most recently the Toby O'Dare novels Of Love and Evil, and Angel Time; the memoir, Called Out of Darkness;and her two novels about Jesus, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana,

Anne publicly broke with organized religion in July of 2010 on moral grounds, affirming her faith in God, but refusing any longer to be called "Christian." The story attracted surprising media attention, with Rice's remarks being quoted in stories all over the world.

Anne is very active on her FaceBook Fan Page and has over 550,000 followers. She answers questions every day on the page, and also posts on a variety of topics, including literature, film, music, politics, religion, and her own writings. She welcomes discussion there on numerous topics.

Her latest novel, The Wolf Gift, a werewolf story set in Northern California in the present time, will be published on February 14th, 2012. With this book, Anne returns to the classic monsters and themes of supernatural literature, similar to those she explored in her Vampire Chronicles, and tales of the Mayfair Witches.

Her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, was published in 1976 and has gone on to become one of the best-selling novels of all time. She continued her saga of the Vampire Lestat in a series of books, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles, which have had both great mainstream and cult followings.

Interview with the Vampire was made into a motion picture in 1994, starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas. Anne's novel, Feast of All Saints about the free people of color of ante-bellum New Orleans became a Showtime mini series in 2001.

Anne Rice is also the author of other novels, including The Witching Hour, Servant of the Bones, Merrick, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Violin, and Cry to Heaven. She lives in Palm Desert, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

95 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remembering the Gone and Forgotten, November 2, 2001

By 

A. Casalino "V^^^^^V" (Downers Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Feast of All Saints (Hardcover)

Here - coincidently on this night of All Souls - floating through my brain are thoughts on this Anne Rice novel, which indeed is one of her best.

Before I mention all that this fine novel is, let me state precisely what it is not: It's not a book to be read quickly - for if you are used to reading through things briskly, with the urgent anticipation of the next read always at hand - then this one is sure to frustrate you; It's not an eventful or an adventurous storyline - though A.R. has written quite a few fast-moving tales, this one is slow and meticulous in both movement and detail; There is no absolute line drawn between the hero and adversary in this plot - every character is given a point of view in order to be understood, and elaborated upon until for certain it is understood.

This is a novel unlike most novels. Set in New Orleans before the Civil War, FEAST OF ALL SAINTS is the story of a distinct yet veritably unknown society of people - numbering approximately 18,000 at that time - they were the free people of color. Free people of color were individuals of white and black mixed blood. They were a fragile society made up of those hovering between the established white population and the slaves. The unique and complex city of New Orleans gave this well-educated and interesting group of people a place in which to flourish. In fact, Voodoo queen Marie Laveau was a free person of color. Inarguably, her life has already been explored in works of both fact and fiction. Yet in this well-researched novel, Anne Rice brings to life fictional characters and gives such insight into the lives of these fascinating people as has likely never been seen.

The protagonist, Marcel, is an adolescent whose parents are Phillipe, a wealthy & prominent plantation owner with a family outside New Orleans, and Cecil, his mistress, a free person of color. He is blond and blue-eyed, but with distinct African features - "combined in an unusual way that was extremely handsome and clearly undesirable." Marcel's younger sister Marie, however is dark-haired, beautiful, and could pass for a white person.

Marcel is growing up assured of the knowledge that his father will send him to Paris to be educated as soon he is of age. Christophe, an author and free person of color who has been educated in France, becomes his mentor when he returns to New Orleans to open up a school. He also has two close friends - Richard, son of a wealthy undertaker, and Anna Bella. With every person in his life, there is a uniquely complex relationship.

This, I must say, is very much a coming-of-age story. Yet - it rises above even that as it intertwines like a patient kind of poetry the feelings of isolation wrought from being misunderstood. It gives credence to the certainty that there can actually be drawn from within the soul of a person (and that all people possess certain qualities of the Saints) that which can overcome even the most intense adversity.

This was only her second novel - after INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. As in her first book, her characters are insatiable in their quest for meaning to their existence, yet are isolated from society. This novel differs in that Marcel is not left with feelings of desolation as was Louis. Marcel seems in all respects to be much more further evolved - which in so many ways reflects the spirit of this fine author - for this protagonist grows to be able to envision the many possibilities his future holds.

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You are coming with me....Now., August 18, 2000

By 

Odilon "odilon" (Oak Park, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Feast of All Saints (Paperback)

Roughly the first two hundred pages of this book deal with a young boy enrolling in a new school. In the process, the book tells us who this boy, Marcel Ste. Marie, is and brings passionately and atmospherically to life his people and their world. It's fascinating. It avoids cheap thrills to unfold like old fashioned literature into a great sensuous flower of a story that doesn't let go. Hints of Rice's customary obsessions are present in this early book but they are very restrained and so gain tantalizing power.

The book deals with the free people of color in 19th century New Orleans, mixed-blood descendants of freed slaves- the proud old families who have established themselves as tradesmen and planters but also the children of white planters' quadroon mistresses. All are oppressed in subtle ways and walk a narrow path of propriety in response. Abandoning their heritage for more racially tolerant Europe is a constant temptation. Even the most refined, educated and prosperous members of the old families cannot vote. A respectable white planter must not be embarrassed by the second family he maintains with his mistress and all assume a mistress's pretty daughter will follow her mother's profession.

Marcel, his sister Marie, his friends Richard and Anna Bella come of age in this environment with poignantly intense youthful enthusiasms, affections and anxieties. Anything their elders cannot face has been kept from them until they reach the age when their world's injustices become unavoidable. They then find themselves at odds with traditional ways that formerly provided meaning and certainty. The story that develops can't be summarized but it builds to such a pitch that when you reach the words in this review's title you might just cheer aloud, as i did. This is historical fiction at its best.

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of her very best., September 10, 1999

By 

Margaret Fiore - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Feast of All Saints (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read nearly all of Anne Rice' works - the erotica, the vampire books, the Mayfair witch books, etc. - and this book is second only to Cry to Heaven. Just as in that vivid and lovely book, Rice has chosen a distinct period of history and an obscure group of people, and brought them to nearly palpable life.

Years after reading this book, it's atmosphere and clearly drawn scenes linger in my memory. I had never known of the "gens de couleur libres" of New Orleans until this book. Rice has done an incredible job of bringing the time, place, and people to light. And the book brought such an engrossing human drama along with the knowledge, that it cannot be forgotten.

Beautiful.