In the days before the Civil War, there lived in New Orleans the gens de couleur
libre - copper-skinned half-casts, 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: artist, poets, and musicians,
plantation owners, scientists and craftsmen whose talents and reputations would
extend far beyond the limits of their small world.
Mega-selling author 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, the idol