The Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice

Ranked #4,695 in Books, Poetry & Writing, #173,545 overall | Donates to Squidoo Charity Fund

A Different Kind of Anne Rice Story.

Anne Rice is famous for some of the most intriguing and complicated Vampire and Witch sagas in American literature as well as completely unique erotic novels.

These characters are written in sagas that evolve over volumes that take the characters and their families over the years, decades and centuries.

The Feast of All Saints is a rare departure from that genre. It is not a saga and it is not supernatural.

It is a rare and moving look into a world and the history of America that many Americans never knew existed. Antebellum New Orleans was different than any other place in America.

The Feast of All Saints Is Unusual for Anne Rice

Not Supernatural, But Just As Intriguing; Thought Provoking

The human story in The Feast of All Saints is compelling and well told. It is the coming of age story of Marcel, a mixed race and mixed class young man in antebellum New Orleans circa 1940's. Several subplots are mixed in involving his mother, her lovers, and other well portrayed characters. Anne Rice's ability for family saga is unsurpassed and while this one is only one volume its intricacies rival the Mayfair witch family.

However, I was especially taken in by the view of American history, one that I hadn't learned in any classroom.

New Orleans was the home of the gens de couleur libres aka free people of color. These people were the descendants of European settlers and Africans. It was common in New Orleans for slave owners to free the children born to them by slaves.

By the time of this story many of these people's families had lived free for generations, some had done quite well for themselves and even owned slaves themselves.

Other free people of color were descendants of Africans who had come to Louisiana after the 1789 rebellion in Haiti.

Marcel's story is woven into the intricacies of this complicated New Orleans society. Imagine Jane Austin with the addition of race, slavery and sexuality.

The 'colored' who owned slaves worked to hold on to their position of being tolerated by the whites whose visitors from Georgia were offended by the free slaves, but understood the class issues better than some of the natives.....

And of course, it is the story of the sexual tensions between the races, the classes and how women used each other, all with hopes of finding their own place.

Please be sure to listen to the Jennifer Beals video as she gives insight into the complexities of life for all women.

Read this book, it will be both an education in American history and human nature. It covers some of the best and worst of both.

And, of course, its a great read!

Feast of All Saints Movie Clips

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Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice

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Vote on Your Favorite Anne Rice book

Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice

Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice

Before the Civil War, there lived in Louisiana, people more...2 points

The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches) by Anne Rice

The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches) by Anne Rice

Demonstrating once again her gift for spellbinding more...1 point

The Vampire Lestat (Rice, Anne, Chronicles of the Vampires, 2nd Bk.) by Anne Rice

The Vampire Lestat (Rice, Anne, Chronicles of the Vampires, 2nd Bk.) by Anne Rice

Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary more...1 point

The Mummy or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice

The Mummy or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice

"The reader is held captive, and, ultimately, more...1 point

The Queen of the Damned (Vampire Chronicles) by Anne Rice

The Queen of the Damned (Vampire Chronicles) by Anne Rice

In 1976, a uniquely seductive world of vampires was more...1 point

Exit to Eden by Anne Rampling

Exit to Eden by Anne Rampling

They call her the Perfectionist. A stunning, mysterious, more...1 point

I Would Love to Hear From Anne Rice Fans...

...and of course, my fans.

  • sousababy Sep 9, 2011 @ 9:33 pm | delete
    She is an amazing writer. I saw her in an interview once and I could listen to her all day. Great lens, liked and googled +1d. Thanks for doing great justice to this fine author.
  • SereneSea Apr 16, 2011 @ 1:16 pm | delete
    I love to read spooky stories about vampires and witches but they come back to haunt me. I am hearing about Anne Rice for the first time and the introduction shows that her work and stories about the haunting world must be exciting.
  • AndyPo Mar 2, 2011 @ 2:19 pm | delete
    Sounds excellent. I have to admit that I haven't read any of her books yet, but I shall...
  • 7Suze7 Jan 25, 2011 @ 7:04 pm | delete
    Interesting book. I like it
  • SofiaMann Dec 3, 2010 @ 6:13 pm | delete
    Fun lens. I like it
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Anne Rice Movies

Interview with the Vampire

Interview with the Vampire

When it was announced that Tom Cruise would play t more...1 point

Feast Of All Saints

Feast Of All Saints

Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints is a tale set more...0 points

Queen of the Damned (Widescreen Edition)

Queen of the Damned (Widescreen Edition)

It's her time. Her place. The wickedly regal Mothe more...0 points

Exit to Eden

Exit to Eden

How do two of the straightest undercover cops in L more...0 points

Margo's Library and More

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Anne Rice Classics

The Sleeping Beauty stories are highly erotic. Do not order them without careful thought. However, if that is your cup of tea I hear they are a lot of fun!
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The New Library

I have a love affair with books. I believe a room is not part of a home until it has some books in it. When I was 45 I owned every book I had ever read (almost) and shipped everyone of them from New Jersey to North Carolina!

However, 10 years later when I sold my Raleigh house, I couldn't face moving them across town. I purged, and purged when I moved again. And frankly, although I still believe that every room needs books, I am beginning to see walls of them as oppressive.

Enter the Kindle. I think this will save my life! Not only can I have my entire library with me at all times, but the books are much less expensive AND I am saving forests.

Its a win/win all the way around. Just so long as I have some books in each room!

Kindle: Amazon's Original Wireless Reading Device (1st generation)

Amazon Price: $50.00 (as of 06/01/2012)Buy Now

It is unwise to travel without books. You never know when you will have a long wait in an airport, well these days you can count on it. There will be rainy days, or days when you just need to get away from others, into a book.

However, which books to take? I can pack with a minimum of cloths; good thing too, because I always take too many books!

Kindle to the rescue! You can have your entire library with you at all times in a machine that isn't much bigger than a trade sized paper back.

This is the future.

Any Purchase Here Will Contribute to Heifer International: The Pay It Forward Entrepreneurial Charity

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About Margo Arrowsmith

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Margo Arrowsmith received the "Lens of the Day" Twice

Arrowsmith Printing 9/22/08
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