{"description": {"type": "/type/text", "value": "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."}, "subtitle": "a novel", "title": "Merrick", "covers": [8281172, 10559066, 10870429, 11551558, 8105311, 10474557, 12224899, 12325822], "subject_places": ["Guatemala", "New Orleans (La.)", "Louisiana", "New Orleans"], "subjects": ["Fiction", "Vampires", "Witches", "Occult fiction", "Horror tales", "Vampires -- Fiction", "General", "Large type books", "Fiction, horror", "Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)", "FICTION / Fantasy / Paranormal", "FICTION / Ghost", "FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense", "FICTION / Occult & Supernatural", "New York Times reviewed", "Fiction, occult & supernatural", "New orleans (la.), fiction", "Guatemala, fiction", "Vampires, fiction", "Louisiana, fiction", "Paranormal fiction", "Series:The-Vampire-Chronicles"], "key": "/works/OL77848W", "authors": [{"author": {"key": "/authors/OL39486A"}, "type": {"key": "/type/author_role"}}], "type": {"key": "/type/work"}, "links": [{"url": "http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/26/books/books-of-the-times-so-bewitched-why-he-feels-almost-human.html", "title": "New York Times review", "type": {"key": "/type/link"}}], "series": [{"series": {"key": "/series/OL334927L"}, "position": "7"}], "genres": ["/tags/OL171T"], "latest_revision": 36, "revision": 36, "created": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2009-10-16T16:30:11.578490"}, "last_modified": {"type": "/type/datetime", "value": "2026-08-30T00:18:25.921978"}}