The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "THE DOCTOR WOKE up afraid..." (more)
Key Phrases: twelve crypts, legal gossip, witch judge, Mary Beth, New Orleans, First Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this engrossing and hypnotic tale of witchcraft and the occult spanning four centuries, we meet a great dynasty of witches--a family given to poetry and incest, to murder and philosophy, a family that over the ages is haunted by a powerful, dangerous and seductive being.

From Publishers Weekly

"We watch and we are always here" is the motto of the Talamasca, a saintly group with extrasensory powers which has for centuries chronicled the lives of the Mayfairs--a dynasty of witches that brought down a shower of flames in 17th-century Scotland, fled to the plantations of Haiti and on to the New World, where they settled in the haunted city of New Orleans. Rice ( The Queen of the Damned ) plumbs a rich vein of witchcraft lore, conjuring in her overheated, florid prose the decayed antebellum mansion where incest rules, dolls are made of human bone and hair, and violent storms sweep the skies each time a witch dies and the power passes on. Newly annointed is Rowan Mayfair, a brilliant California neurosurgeon kept in ignorance of her heritage by her adoptive parents. She returns to the fold after bringing back Michael Curry from the dead; he, too, has unwanted extrasensory gifts and, like Rowan and the 12 Mayfairs before her, has beheld Lasher: devil, seducer, spirit. Now Lasher wants to come through to this world forever and Rowan is the Mayfair who can open the door. This massive tome repeatedly slows, then speeds when Rice casts off the Talamasca's pretentious, scholarly tones and goes for the jugular with morbid delights, sexually charged passages and wicked, wild tragedy. 300,000 first printing; BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 1056 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345384466
• ISBN-13: 978-0345384461
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (392 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,045 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Mayfair Witches Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rice's journey through myth, legend and the supernatural, April 15, 2003

By	Chris K. Wilson "Chris Kent" (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"The Witching Hour," Anne Rice's 1990 foray into witchcraft and the occult, is not really a change of pace for the uniquely gifted author more than it is a better realized creation emphasizing her strengths and obsessions. As most readers know, Rice cut her teeth with the enormously successful Vampire Chronicles including "Interview with the Vampire" and "The Vampire Lestat." With "The Witching Hour," Rice has taken a well-deserved break from the immortal lives of her witty vampire clan, creating a fascinating legend of a family of witches stretching back four centuries and two continents.

The witches, known as the Mayfairs, are connected by the haunting thread of the mysterious spirit Lasher, appearing ghost-like to a selected few, standing within the shadows of ominous trees and forming within mirrors, tears streaking his pale face. Lasher forms an eerie, if not erotic bond with the women of the Mayfair clan, providing untold riches and eventually amorous damnation. But Lasher, much like the legacy of the Mayfair family, is an exotic mystery waiting to be solved, and this intimidating responsiblity falls into the modern-day hands of Michael Curry and Rowan Mayfair. This appealing, love-struck couple, set out for New Orleans to solve the mystery and reclaim the souls of the Mayfair family.

"The Witching Hour" was eventually followed by two sequels, but it stands alone as one of Rice's greatest novels, an enthralling, complex epic filled with gothic mystery, dancing ghosts and heartbreaking irony. Her descriptions of the decayed mansion on First Street, situated in the Garden District of New Orleans, a moody, ancient home owned by the Mayfairs for over 100 years, provides some of this novels most sensual and memorable passages. This house is indeed haunted by spirits and the hovering mysteries of past tragedies, but like Shirley Jackson's classic "The Haunting of Hill House," what is lurking within the home is much more than just crying spirits of the dead.

Rice's body of work has always had an old fashioned taste for the finer things in life, from exquisite bottles of wine to antique furnishings and dusty historic paintings. She caresses these lush trappings, much like a lover embraces an old flame. And her descriptions of these tasteful adornments - clothes, artwork, china, food and even New Orleans culture, all glowing within the flame of yellow candlelight, are examples of her sensual writing style. Granted, the passages leading up to the novel's final conflict, in which Michael and Rowan begin renovating the ancient Mayfair home, move slowly, perhaps providing more architectural detail than the reader is interested in. But Rice is strategically building a growing sense of dread. Horror is going to pay a visit to this young couple, and when it eventually does, the reader's mouth will be agape.

"The Witching Hour" is a mesmerizing novel, combining comfortable elements of the English ghost story with a feather-touch dash of erotica, witchcraft and the occult. As in all Anne Rice novels, the dead will simply not go away. They lurk in the shadows of history, as they have for centuries. Time may have passed these pseudo banshees by, but their power is far reaching. Even within the shadows of skyscrapers, automobiles and computers, these timeless supernatural fears are hiding. In Anne Rice's fascinating worlds, ancient legends live and wait, and our imagination is entranced.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A long worthwhile read, June 21, 2000

By	Jennifer L. Raspe "emmy142" (Left Side of Reality) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is probably not a book for everyone, as it is long in detail and long on developing the plot. If you love novels like these, you will love this.If not, do not even pick this up.

The story of the Mayfair witches starts in the present, moves to the past and back to the present with some loops thrown in.

Anne Rice made beautiful usage of the language and description. I felt half the time that I was there in New Orleans (and it being over 90 degrees here helped =) watching a ghost story unfold.

The ending is definitely a shocker, however, if you take the time to read the second and third book it all makes sense. This was not written to be a one book novel.

Anne spent a lot of time developing the characters in this novel, which explained why certain characters do and react the way they do. It also made me feel that I knew each individual character very well. I almost cried at points, and got very angry in others.

To me it was well worth the read (it grabbed my attention immediately, I didn't put it down for 2 days thank god it was the weekend!) and then I had to run out and by the next two books, which I will not go into details on here.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark Chocolate Laced With Arsenic, February 15, 2001

By	Amanda M. Hayes (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Witching Hour (Hardcover)

Rich and dark, sultry and humid, dusty and musty and perfumed with the sweet scent of decay... the story between the covers of _Witching Hour_ is all of these things. It's a decadent toxin, luxurious and chilling all in one heavy blow.

What does this book have going for it? The better question is, what doesn't it have going for it? Elegant prose--that's there. Vivid description? In abundance! Strong characters? You'll have to read it to believe it; not only are we presented with the magnetic couple Rowan and Michael in their modern-day psychic glory (and the reappearance of the intriguing Talamasca), but the history of the Mayfairs treats the reader to one tantalizing personality after another. Sensuality? If you know anything about Anne Rice, you really don't need to ask. Suspense, horror, creepiness? Oh, *yes*--these things coat almost every page, seeping into your mind like a slow contact poison.

Good plot? Good enough to keep me turning the pages long into the night, though I'll admit it faltered and dragged in places while zooming ludicrously fast in others. An excellent ending... well, no book is perfect.

In truth, all of the problems in this book seemed tied to the pacing and the ending. The former was good, but not in keeping with the quality of the rest of the book; the latter seemed pure and simply too abrupt, too unbelievable. It had an element of deus ex machina. The change in Rowan's character seemed unbelievable to me. Still, it's a good lead-in to the next novel in the saga, which is probably part of what Rice wanted.

I give _Witching Hour_ five stars despite these faults due to its sheer spellbinding intensity and power, which I believe more than compensate. This is a dense, thick, heavy book, rich to the senses and the mind; while it would make an excellent introduction to the works of Rice, or fresh new fare for those familiar with her well-known vampires, it isn't something I'd suggest picking up for a light read. Prepare instead to be mesmerized for hours by the intricate world and sense of mystery that Anne Rice will build for you.