Rating: 
Summary: A waste of time
Review: How anyone could get through this book is beyond me. The descriptions of new orleans during this era are magnificent but there are entirely too many characters to keep up with. I got to page 175 and put the book down. Her Vampire chronicles are really her best work. Don't waste your time with this book. THere are too many other books to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Magical
Review: I loved this book from cover to cover. I have always lived on the west coast and knew nothing of this world. The beauty, strengh and complete injustice of this story will move you. These characters are rich and believable. They will make you root for them.
Rating: 
Summary: Not only poignant and moving, but also unique.
Review: Set in Rice's favorite town of New Orleans, this beautifully crafted novel is a must read. Rice follows the trials of a mulatto family who struggle to find happiness in the 1840s. This novel is not only a poignant and moving story, it is also unique. New Orleans of the 1840s is a world apart from our own, ripe with new adventures to explore. The story follows young Marcel who is the son of an aristocratic plantation owner and his African-American mistress. Marcel strives to live up to the expectations he has set for himself, and struggles under the caste system prevalent in the city of New Orleans. His experiences, as well as those of his sister, his mentor, and his best friend finally lead him to recognize the truths about life he'd known all along.
Rating:
Summary: You are coming with me....Now.
Review: Roughly the first two hundred pages of this book deal with a young boy enrolling in a new school. In the process, the book tells us who this boy, Marcel Ste. Marie, is and brings passionately and atmospherically to life his people and their world. It's fascinating. It avoids cheap thrills to unfold like old fashioned literature into a great sensuous flower of a story that doesn't let go. Hints of Rice's customary obsessions are present in this early book but they are very restrained and so gain tantalizing power.The book deals with the free people of color in 19th century New Orleans, mixed-blood descendants of freed slaves- the proud old families who have established themselves as tradesmen and planters but also the children of white planters' quadroon mistresses. All are oppressed in subtle ways and walk a narrow path of propriety in response. Abandoning their heritage for more racially tolerant Europe is a constant temptation. Even the most refined, educated and prosperous members of the old families cannot vote. A respectable white planter must not be embarrassed by the second family he maintains with his mistress and all assume a mistress's pretty daughter will follow her mother's profession. Marcel, his sister Marie, his friends Richard and Anna Bella come of age in this environment with poignantly intense youthful enthusiasms, affections and anxieties. Anything their elders cannot face has been kept from them until they reach the age when their world's injustices become unavoidable. They then find themselves at odds with traditional ways that formerly provided meaning and certainty. The story that develops can't be summarized but it builds to such a pitch that when you reach the words in this review's title you might just cheer aloud, as i did. This is historical fiction at its best.
Rating:
Summary: I loved it
Review: I have read many of Anne Rice books, and this one works just as well. Although the description is overwhelming, and there aren't any of our favourite vampires, I still feel like I can empathise with all the characters, and find myself drawn into New Orleans in the 1700's.
Rating:
Summary: No vampires no witches no sex...
Review: I'm surprised that Anne Rice fans like this book at all; about all it has in common with her other books is New Orleans & purple prose. Which is precisely why I like it! "The Feast of All Saints" was Rice's first published novel. The setting & theme set it smack dab in the historicals market, altho the lack of graphic sex & bodice ripping probably disappointed those early readers. It wasn't until Rice hit the jackpot with her Vampire Chronicles that "Feast..." was reprinted & became a steady seller. It still ranks (along with "Cry to Heaven") as a curiousity to those fans. However, this is a review of this book. How does "Feast of All Saints" stand up as a story? Pretty well. The first half of the book is slooowww, mainly alot of introspection, descriptions & general atmosphere. The plot itself (what there is of one) doesn't really get going until page 300 or so. Even then the reader spends more time inside the heads of the characters rather than observing events. What sets this book apart is the depiction of New Orleans in the antebellum period, & Rice's ability to recreate the life of the quadroons, octoroons & others who were considered "colored" even tho they may only have been 1/16th African! It is almost impossible to imagine what these "gens de colour" felt as they were discriminated against by their own relations while still owning slaves themselves & continuing the racial divide that created them. Rice does a marvelous job of bringing their day to day life to a modern world.
Rating:
Summary: A top five favorite
Review: Let me start by saying as a general rule I am no fan of Anne Rice's work. That being said, this is truely a phenomenal book. This book is so well written you feel like you are there spying on the characters. Not only are the portrayals of the creole people chilling, so is the portryal of the city of New Orleans itself. This book makes me long to go back in time to spend an evening in the French Opera house or accompany the characters to the French Market. I have read this book multiple times and take more and more away with me after each read.
Rating: 
Summary: How can anyone read Anne Rice's books!
Review: How can anyone like this author? I am a dedicated reader to every book I read; that is every book I read, no matter how boring the plot I always finish it, with the exception of Anne Rice. I've tried to read sooo many of her novels including THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS and I couldn't get past page 100 on any of them except for THE VAMPIRE LESTAT, which was the only novel of hers I could finish. Her writing is absolutely horrible, because she has to describe every single thing. Sure, that is great explaining everything, but Ms. Rice does it in lengthy paragraphs. When I TRY to read one of her books, I feel like I'm just reading about what the 1700s were like rather than about peoples lives that were affected in that time period. I would probably love her novels if she wouldn't describe so much. Her books could be cut by about 1/5 if she wouldn't do that, and maybe alot of people might could finish them. I have been able to finish plenty of books that are well over 500 pages which is the average length of Ms. Rice's books, but her lack of story telling, and her over usage of description conflicts with me doing so. I don't see how anyone could finish these books, unless you just scan them.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of Anne's best works!
Review: I am a big fan of Anne Rice. I have read every single one of her Vampire Chronicles, and all of her other books as well. This book touched me, though not quite as much as Interview. I loved all the characters, especially Marcel. This book teaches us a little bit of forgotten history and it blends in a remarkable storyline as well. Though the first section of the book is a little bit slow, it picks up pace and you eventually feel the terrible situation that the free people of color faced in those times. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: Thrilling and beautiful
Review: Anne Rice is a really talented writer, I think. Her words just carry so much meaning you'll want to savour them over and over. I loved everything about this book. Although at times it felt like the story was going nowhere it didn't matter because there was so much more to it than just the plot. She totally brings to life New Orleans in the 1800's with a beautiful narrative style. The characters she creates are so real as well. she has an excellent understanding of people and their motivation behind the things they do. She has also done her homework on the history which she manages to combine with the story VERY succesfully.
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