{"description": "At the center of Anne Rice's new novel is the beautiful, unconquerable Merrick, a child--a witch with the power and magical knowledge of a Medea and a Circe. She is a Mayfair of New Orleans, descendent of a family rich in its French and Spanish past, steeped in the age-old tradition of voodoo. Into this strange and exotic world comes David Talbot, hero, storyteller, adventurer, almost-mortal vampire, a visitor from another realm of the dark world. In her mesmerizing new novel, the author of the Vampire Chronicles & the saga of the Mayfair witches demonstrates, once again, her gift for spellbinding storytelling & the creation of myth & magic. Now, in a magnificent tale of sorcery & the occult, she makes real for us a hitherto unexplored world of witchcraft. At the center is the beautiful, unconquerable witch, Merrick. She is a descendant of the gens de couleurs libres, a caste derived from the black mistresses of white men, a society of New Orleans octaroons & quadroons, steeped in the lore & ceremony of voodoo, who reign in the shadowy world where the African & the French--the white & the dark--intermingle. Her ancestors are the Great Mayfair witches, of whom she knows nothing--and from whom she inherits the power & magical knowledge of a Circe. Into this exotic New Orleans realm comes David Talbot, hero, storyteller, adventurer, almost-mortal vampire, visitor from another dark realm. It is he who recounts Merrick's haunting tale--a tale that takes us from the New Orleans of past & present to the jungles of Guatemala, from the Mayan ruins of a century ago to ancient civilizations not yet explored. Anne Rice's richly told novel weaves an irresistible story of two worlds: the witches' world & the vampires' world, where magical powers & otherworldly fascinations are locked together in a dance of seduction, death, & rebirth.", "notes": "Also issued online.", "title": "Merrick", "subtitle": "a novel", "authors": [{"key": "/authors/OL39486A"}], "publish_date": "2000", "links": [{"url": "http://www.loc.gov/catdir/samples/random042/99088556.html", "title": "Sample text"}, {"url": "http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1007/99088556-d.html", "title": "Publisher description"}], "covers": [15217977, 6821026], "local_id": ["urn:bwbsku:O8-AYI-281", "urn:sfpl:31223112100061", "urn:sfpl:31223112100087", "urn:sfpl:31223049477582", "urn:bwbsku:P4-BHE-576"], "ia_loaded_id": ["merricknovel00rice_0"], "source_records": ["promise:bwb_daily_pallets_2022-06-13:O8-AYI-281", "ia:merricknovel00rice", "ia:merricknovel00rice_0", "marc:marc_openlibraries_sanfranciscopubliclibrary/sfpl_chq_2018_12_24_run02.mrc:207369342:2259", "marc:marc_loc_2016/BooksAll.2016.part28.utf8:35531285:969", "ia:merricknovel0000rice_a1d6", "bwb:9780679454489", "promise:bwb_daily_pallets_2020-10-07:P4-BHE-576", "marc:marc_columbia/Columbia-extract-20221130-006.mrc:257964065:1210", "marc:harvard_bibliographic_metadata/20220215_022.bib.mrc:11092841:4175"], "languages": [{"key": "/languages/eng"}], "subjects": ["Horror fiction", "Vampires", "Witches", "Fiction"], "publish_country": "nyu", "by_statement": "by Anne Rice", "type": {"key": "/type/edition"}, "publishers": ["A.A. Knopf", "Distributed by Random House", "Alfred A. Knopf"], "ia_box_id": ["IA126312"], "full_title": "Merrick a novel", "publish_places": ["New York"], "pagination": "307 p. ;", "subject_places": ["Guatemala", "New Orleans (La.)"], "key": "/books/OL24767176M", "number_of_pages": 307, "works": [{"key": "/works/OL77848W"}], "ocaid": "merricknovel00rice", "isbn_10": ["0679454489", "0676973310"], "isbn_13": ["9780679454489", "9780676973310"], "lccn": ["99088556"], "oclc_numbers": ["43115157"], "dewey_decimal_class": ["813/.54"], "lc_classifications": ["PS3568.I265 M48 2000", "PS3568.I265M48 2000"], "latest_revision": 19, "revision": 19, "created": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2011-07-14T01:31:06.672688"}, "last_modified": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2026-08-26T21:10:39.629752"}}