I am at the moment a homemaker with 4 children, 2 have left home and the other 2 still live at home....
I am at the moment a homemaker with 4 children, 2 have left home and the other 2 still live at home.
I have a partner that I met on the Internet just over 3 years ago and I have 1 grandchild!
I enjoy the internet and building web pages! I also have ...
Member since:11.07.2000
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After having read all of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles to date, I have been reading some of her other books. This time I am reading the set of three books about the Mayfair Witches. The first, The Witching Hour, is quite a fat book, with over 1,000 pages. It took a while to read, and I found myself nipping off to bed early for a bit of peace and quiet to get on with reading it. Not only that, but it is a book that once you start, you just want to keep reading.
The setting of the book is in New Orleans, where Anne Rice herself lives, so you can be sure that all descriptions of buildings and places are going to be very accurate. Sometimes she does tend to go overboard with descriptions, giving the reader every detail, and this can be annoying when it is a good part of the book because you just want to know what happens.
The book starts with the lives of different people, who will eventually meet up as the book progresses. MICHAEL CURRY He was born in New Orleans in
the Irish quarter, and after his father died, his family move to San Francisco. He becomes a bit of a celebrity in the local newspapers after having drowned and has a ‘near death’ experience. After he is rescued, he finds that he has gained some unusual power. He can see images when he touches things with his hands. This drives him to drink because he cannot handle it, and he also starts to wear black gloves.
ROWAN MAYFAIR Adopted by relatives shortly after she was born, 30 year old Rowan Mayfair is a beautiful and brilliant brain surgeon. She is the natural daughter of Deirdre Mayfair, living in New Orleans, but adopted because Deirdre is said to be mad. Rowan lives and works in San Francisco. She was the one that saved Michael Curry from drowning, but at this stage in the book, Michael has no idea who rescued him. Rowan has a special gift too. She can lay her hands on a patient and know exactly what is wrong with them.
AARON LIGHTNER Aaron is an investigator with an organisation called the Talamasca. Sound familiar? Yes, the Talamasca have been mentioned in other Anne Rice books. They investigate the unusual, and many of them can read minds. Their object is to watch and keep files of strange and unusual happenings. Aaron has been keeping files on The Mayfair Witches, Rowan’s descendants.
They eventually meet up when Michael finds out that it was Rowan that has saved him from drowning, and Aaron is investigating the story about Michael’s strange power in his hands. The death of Rowan’s birth mother, Dierdre, brings them all together to New Orleans. Here, when Aaron realises that Michael and Rowan have become an item, he gives Michael the file on The Mayfair Witches to read.
The next part of the book then tells us the history of the Mayfair’s, dating back to the 1600’s in Scotland, where many were burnt at the stake for being witches. The history takes the Mayfair’s to Saint Dominique where they acquire a huge plantation and much wealth. There is also mention of an invisible being, named Lasher. He is supposed to be an evil entity having been called upon by Suzanne Mayfair (the first Mayfair) to do her bidding. He has then remained with the Mayfair family through generations. The Mayfair’s flee Saint Dominique after an uprising, and end up in New Orleans, where they have remained to this day. The file contains information about each family member and the strange happenings involving the entity Lasher. Even investigators from the Talamasca have strangely disappeared or come to an untimely end over the years.
The remainder of the book is about Michael and Rowan marrying, restoring the grand Mayfair house on First Street (the same street that the author lives on), and their relationships with the rest of the Mayfair family. It doesn’t end there though. If I tell you any more it would spoil it, but the ending chapters are very gripping with an ending that I never expected.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and there was no part of it that bored me, except the over descriptions by the author. Characters were believable, and as I have said before, Anne Rice certainly knows her history.
When I saw the size of it I didn’t think that I would get through it, having not been reading books for very long. But it really is a great book. If you are looking for horror with gore, this is not for you. Anne Rice’s books tend not to be very gory, but the stories do make up for it.
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Thanks for the great op! I brought this for for £2.00 from a second hand book shop yesterday - very glad i did now.
KarenUK 05.07.2001 20:38
I love reading, but haven't tried any of Anne Rice's stuff, as I don't like horror & thought they'd be gory. It's nice to know they're not!
RichardW 05.05.2001 18:18
Ayup - excellent op. I was extremely impressed bt 'Witching Hour', though I felt that 'Lasher' and 'Taltos' both lacked something by comparison. Looking forward to checking out the witch/vampire crossover next...
On the verandah of a great New Orleans house now faded a mute and fragile woman sits ... more
rocking. And the witching hour begins...Demonstrating once again her gift for spellbinding storytelling and the creation of legend Anne Rice makes real for us a gre...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Leave Around the House for Women to See Your Sensitive Side, Never Need Buy Confetti Again, Maybe You'll Die Before Reading It Disadvantages: Someone will Probably Make You Read It, You Will Then Have to Kill that Person, Sentencing for Book-related Homicide Can be Stringent
Advantages: It constantly has you on the edge of your seat and guides you to some staggering realisations about the characters and events that have occured!!! Disadvantages: none
Advantages: It constantly has you on the edge of your seat and guides you to some staggering realisations about the characters and events that have occured!!! Disadvantages: none
Advantages: Leave Around the House for Women to See Your Sensitive Side, Never Need Buy Confetti Again, Maybe You'll Die Before Reading It Disadvantages: Someone will Probably Make You Read It, You Will Then Have to Kill that Person, Sentencing for Book-related Homicide Can be Stringent
May 4th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
