In the days before the Civil War, there lived in New Orleans the gens de couleur libre - copper-skinned half-castes, liberated by their owners, but...
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Jun 14, 2011
Jennifer
rated it: 
Completely different than most Anne Rice novels, this one forgoes the supernatural entirely.
One of my favorite books, this novel is rich with history of pre-Civil War New Orleans and rural Louisiana. Characters are very compelling and Rice deftly explores the nearly mind boggling complexity of race and relationships in a city where degrees of black- or whiteness meant everything.
NOTE: The movie was flat and much oversimplified by comparison, not even worth watching.
One of my favorite books, this novel is rich with history of pre-Civil War New Orleans and rural Louisiana. Characters are very compelling and Rice deftly explores the nearly mind boggling complexity of race and relationships in a city where degrees of black- or whiteness meant everything.
NOTE: The movie was flat and much oversimplified by comparison, not even worth watching.
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Nov 23, 2008
Realmente no me gustó, me pareció largo, lento y pesado.
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Aug 11, 2011
Aleeda
rated it: 
This novel so often gets overlooked; Anne Rice's mystical writings about vampires, mummies and witches easily overshadow it. Pity, because for my money, this is her BEST work. While researching Interview with a Vampire, she gathered enough information, for this, her second novel (as Anne Rice). The book blends a wonderful love of a beautiful city (New Orleans) with a genuine interest in African American culture. The gens de couleur libre, a society of free middle-class mixed-raced people, h
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Jun 28, 2011
Carol
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This story set in pre-Civil War New Orleans, portrays a complex social structure that existed between white landed gentry, slaves, and “The Free People of Color”. The later group was descended from the French and the Spanish and African slaves. While The Free People of Color had monetary advantages, because of their white, rich fathers, they hung in the society and the culture with a status that both defined and confined them. The young men of this subculture were often sent to Eur More...
Jun 19, 2009
Caitlin
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I read this book when it first came out when I was 16 & loved it. I've re-read it periodically & still love it (I think this makes my fourth read). The good thing about re-reading books is all the different perspectives you bring & the new things you notice because you've grown & changed.
When I was 16 I was taken with the romanticism of the book - the free people of color, the world of Antebellum New Orleans, the various love stories - what teenager wouldn't swoon? At this point I More...
When I was 16 I was taken with the romanticism of the book - the free people of color, the world of Antebellum New Orleans, the various love stories - what teenager wouldn't swoon? At this point I More...
Feb 23, 2010
Lisa
rated it:
Although mostly known for her vampire fiction, Rice's non-paranormal books are easily her best as Cry To Heaven and now this deftly illustrate.
A beautiful mix of history and fiction that plunges us into the incredibly complex lives of the Free People of Colour of New Orleans in the mid 19th century, a world I was largely ignorant of prior to picking this up, I loved this book and soon found myself absorbed completely. Written mostly from the viewpoint of the St Marie family (Cecile, More...
A beautiful mix of history and fiction that plunges us into the incredibly complex lives of the Free People of Colour of New Orleans in the mid 19th century, a world I was largely ignorant of prior to picking this up, I loved this book and soon found myself absorbed completely. Written mostly from the viewpoint of the St Marie family (Cecile, More...
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Jun 04, 2009
I confess, when I first viewed a small snippet of a movie based on this book it looked really interesting (that was about two weeks ago).
The book is basically about African Americans (in Antebellum South I presume?) of variable racial heredity/characteristics (quadroons, octaroons, etc.) and how this either was a stumbling block or an advantage for each, including the lust for power and prestige; and, in consequence, how this also affected their personal lives and familial relation More...
The book is basically about African Americans (in Antebellum South I presume?) of variable racial heredity/characteristics (quadroons, octaroons, etc.) and how this either was a stumbling block or an advantage for each, including the lust for power and prestige; and, in consequence, how this also affected their personal lives and familial relation More...
Mar 09, 2011
I was looking at all my Anne Rice books and I noticed one of them didn't look like it had been read. My best guess as to why I hadn't read The Feast of All Saints when I bought it is most likely because of the very small and heavy font.
Anyway, years after purchasing it, I have finished reading this book which was quite different to her vampire series. The novel has a familiar setting in New Orleans, however there are no vampires or supernatural themes in the story. Set in the French Qu More...
Anyway, years after purchasing it, I have finished reading this book which was quite different to her vampire series. The novel has a familiar setting in New Orleans, however there are no vampires or supernatural themes in the story. Set in the French Qu More...
Feb 17, 2009
Carmela
rated it:
This is probably one of my three favorite books by Anne Rice. It is set in New Orleans and is about the life of one man and his three families. His white wife and children, his kept quadroon woman and their children, and his slave woman and their child. This book talks about the complexity of race relations in a very personal way and during a time period when people didn't talk about race at all, 1800s. It is not a ghoulish tale, like Rice is known for writing either. It is a period story a
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Oct 08, 2009
Kerry
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I'm giving this five stars (it was amazing) because that is how I felt about this book when I read it when I was fifteen. My dad bought this book for me on one of our Sunday bookstore browsing days and I picked it up only because I liked the cover. I had never heard of Anne Rice and didn't know anything about her Vampire Chronicles.
I was immediately sucked into this book by its historical context,intricate plot, kind of naughtiness, and very romantic New Orleans setting. I was d More...
I was immediately sucked into this book by its historical context,intricate plot, kind of naughtiness, and very romantic New Orleans setting. I was d More...
Jun 28, 2011
Roberta
rated it:
As I said about "Cry To Heaven" don't dismiss this as just another Anne Rice book. It's an historical novel about being a mixed race or mulatto young man in 19th century New Orleans. There was a whole class of colored, well-off, well-educated and cultured people in New Orleans at this time. They ranked far above the blue-collar Irish immigrants in the complex social strata of the Crescent City. While Anne Rice's writing tends towards the overlush, this is a captivating, interesting sto
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Nov 13, 2007
Misha
rated it: 
way too religious for my taste. couldn't finish it.
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Jul 05, 2011
Davea
rated it:
This is a very difficult book to rate.
First off, let me say this is NOT a Vampire book nor a Witches of Mayfair book. In fact, it is not a horror nor suspense book at all.
This is a book that takes place in the free black sector of New Orleans about 20 years before the civil war. The people in New Orleans all still speak French, although the Louisiana Purchase was in 1803 (40 years before the story takes place). The novel is a historically based novel about life of the fr More...
First off, let me say this is NOT a Vampire book nor a Witches of Mayfair book. In fact, it is not a horror nor suspense book at all.
This is a book that takes place in the free black sector of New Orleans about 20 years before the civil war. The people in New Orleans all still speak French, although the Louisiana Purchase was in 1803 (40 years before the story takes place). The novel is a historically based novel about life of the fr More...
Dec 11, 2010
Burgendya
rated it:
Feast of all Saints was a superb story, & unforgetble. Anne Rice has done a great job in recreating pre-civil war New Orlean, LA history. It was a lovely look of the Africans in America-Gens de Couler Libre/Free People of Color during the 1800's. The creole people & their lives in that time. She difinetly gave it a mesmerizing imagery. The story main center character was Marcel St.Marie maturing to the harsh reality of how race and class has a profound affect on a person's life. A beauti More...
May 24, 2010
Teresa
rated it:
This book took a while to get into (it's taken me a month nearly to read!) and I did find that if and when I put it down, I could easily forget about it. (Where as other books have called me to it... and I've ignored the housework to just read, read, read!).
I've given it three stars, maybe it deserves two and half. I wasn't sure whether to give it two or three. I did like the story, but like I said, this book wasn't ever begging me to pick it back up. There were places where it w More...
I've given it three stars, maybe it deserves two and half. I wasn't sure whether to give it two or three. I did like the story, but like I said, this book wasn't ever begging me to pick it back up. There were places where it w More...
Nov 10, 2009
Daniel
rated it:
Let me start by saying that Anne Rice is my favorite author. I discovered her work when I was barely a teenager. Rice painted vivid, metaphysical worlds for her vampires, witches, and spirits. The page turning tales she spun were an escape that brought me through some of the toughest trials of my adolescence. There was one novel, though, that I completely disregarded because it was of the historical fiction genre. The Feast of All Saints is set in Louisiana in the 1840's. The main characters are
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May 17, 2009
Dale
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This was an interesting but also troubling book. It was about the society of free blacks in New Orleans pre-Civil War. The story particularly follows Marcel through his teens. This society was highly education-minded with the goal for young men to go off to university in France where they could live a life less constrained by their color. The goal for the young women was that become mistresses of rich white landowners. Not that everyone bought into these goals, but most did.
What mad More...
What mad More...
Aug 23, 2009
Jeweleye
rated it:
I am not an Anne Rice fan. I read four of the vampire books and three of the witch books. I also read Cry to Heaven. My partner was enthralled with her books and I wanted to see what she saw. It just never happened. Her narratives tend to be too dense with description for my taste.
But I had seen the movie based on The Feast of All Saints and I find that period of history fascinating. The setting is the mid-19th century in New Orleans. There is a class of free blacks and mixed race c More...
But I had seen the movie based on The Feast of All Saints and I find that period of history fascinating. The setting is the mid-19th century in New Orleans. There is a class of free blacks and mixed race c More...
Jun 03, 2008
Keri
rated it:
as of 6/3/08, this is the most beautiful book I've read! It's Anne Rice so very yummy details. All in all a coming of age story for a "free people of color" family in pre-Civil war era. Time piece is great, the adventure and romance of early Louisiana is so intoxicating. Anne seems to have done a fair amount of research on this book (plus she's lived in New Orleans for quite a while) - according to the brief tours I engaged in while in NOLA, many details match up. Some names and dates
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Sep 18, 2007
Jennifer
rated it:
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 More...
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 More...
Aug 09, 2011
This was one of them most intriguing and historical novels I've read by Anne Rice. I've learned more about history from this book than most of her other books. Again, her writing is beautiful to read and again, her characters are absolutely believable.
Basically, the book is about free African Americans before the civil war. Their struggles and freedoms of living in between the rungs of a social ladder of Caucasians and slaves. Very enlightening book, in deed.
Basically, the book is about free African Americans before the civil war. Their struggles and freedoms of living in between the rungs of a social ladder of Caucasians and slaves. Very enlightening book, in deed.
Aug 15, 2010
Ronnie
rated it:
I love books that highlight African American history, and I was beside myself when i found this book one day in a bin at Goodwill. For .25 I got one of the best books I've ever written. Mrs. Rice weaves an excellent tale about the gen de libre coloure, a little known community of mixed races free people of color that populated Louisiana. I was completely draw into the world of Marcel St. Marie as he struggled with his identity on his road to becoming a man.
This was a great book.
This was a great book.
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Mar 04, 2008
Cy
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A remarkable well-researched and from-the-heart work of historical fiction which follows the everyday lives of antebellum gens de couleur, also commonly called "Creole" society in Southern Louisiana. A motley assortment of characters and a well-crafted and cleverly paced storyline is accented by unexpectedly complex explorations of racial dynamics from a variety of perspectives along the color line, and mostly within it's lesser explored grayspaces. The author is bold in her trajecto
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Dec 11, 2010
Judith
rated it:
I am on page 245 and will probably not go on. Reading this book is almost painful, it is SO SLOW and there is so little PLOT. Just dense dense background and evocation of New Orleans in 1830. There are many build-ups where the reader thinks: at last something is going to happen - only to have another very flat climax. On one page our 14 year-old hero spoke "wearily" 3 times!! I too was speaking wearily after drudging through this book.
Aug 20, 2010
Becky
rated it:
This book started out very slowly, especially the first 100 pages, but by the end I was enthralled and wishing for a sequel. The story is set in the New Orleans of the 1840's and the main character is Marcel St. Marie, a Creole of mixed race who is fourteen years old and struggling to find his place in the world. His mother, the daughter of an African slave, is the kept mistress of a white plantation owner, Marcel's father. Marcel's world is one that is rigidly stratified based on skin color.
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Apr 06, 2008
Moca
rated it: 
I'm trying so hard to finish this book... it's a bit heavy in spots and it can get really flowery. Interesting story, though. Just not the easiest for me to read. I guess I've never really gotten into Anne Rice, but I'm really making an effort. I suppose it would also help if your interests are more romantic, reading-wise, and mine aren't.
Okay, I finished it, and my goodness, what angst! eek. It definitely helps to be into lots and lots of heavy angst and longing and stuff... i More...
Okay, I finished it, and my goodness, what angst! eek. It definitely helps to be into lots and lots of heavy angst and longing and stuff... i More...
Oct 02, 2008
Robin
rated it:
I gave up. I mean just flat gave up. didn't care about the characters, didn't care about New Orleans.
Just finally admitted that I really don't understand why Anne Rice novels sell. I know: as a woman in the 20th (21st now, but believe me, I jumped off this boat years ago) that I should be all about Anne Rice. But I'm not. I don't get her, and suddenly I find myself very very wary of people who profess to be huge Anne Rice fans. Nothing against the woman, I mean, I read the May More...
Just finally admitted that I really don't understand why Anne Rice novels sell. I know: as a woman in the 20th (21st now, but believe me, I jumped off this boat years ago) that I should be all about Anne Rice. But I'm not. I don't get her, and suddenly I find myself very very wary of people who profess to be huge Anne Rice fans. Nothing against the woman, I mean, I read the May More...
Dec 16, 2009
Alex
rated it:
A beautiful and lush novel set in a very unique community in America in antebellum New Orleans - the gens de couleur libre, the mixed race Creoles of color. The novel, though with many characters who play very important roles in the story, concentrates on the St. Marie family: Cecile St. Marie, the haughty matriarch of dark skin and fine european features who was rescued as a little girl from St. Domingue during the revolt; her daughter, Marie, blessed/cursed with the ability to pass for white,
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Jun 13, 2011
Kandice
rated it:
This is my favorite book, I've probably read it ten or twelve times. The characters are so beautiful and tragic that it makes me cry every time. I read it whenever I start feeling too disconnected from my emotions; it seems to "calibrate" my feelings and get me in a better state of mind. This story is so volatile and passionate, I would recommend it to anyone who loves the poetic prose of Anne Rice.
Oct 06, 2011
Kim
rated it:
This is an amazingly well written book chronicling the live of both free and enslaved people of color in antebellum New Orleans. It's also a tender coming of age story of a young man that touches on issues of sexuality, masculintiy, race, class and identity
Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite books of all time.
Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite books of all time.
