Description
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 confined by their color to a life of political nonexistence and social subordination. Still, an aristocracy would emerge in this society: artists, poets, and musicians; plantation owners; scientists; and craftsmen whose talents and reputations would extend far beyond the limits of their small world.
Anne Rice's probing, lyrical style sweeps us into their midst as she introduces Marcel, the sensitive, blue-eyed scholar; Marie, his breathtakingly beautiful sister, whose curse is to pass for white; Christophe, novelist and teacher and the idol of all young gens; and the stunning Anna Bella, whose allure for the well-to-do white man would become legend.
Here is a compelling and richly textured tale of a people forever caught in the shadows between black and white.