European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Books novelist Rice / the witching hour by Anne Rice Knopf 965 pp., $22.95 Janet Mcconnaughey associated press he Park Ranger leads a Gaggle of tourists up to the elaborate cast Iron Fence in new Orleans and Points to the big Violet Gray House with three styles of greek columns. A this House was built in 1857. The hexagonal Bay was added in 1869., do you know who lives Here a v. A its owner novelist Anne Rice gives a different tour the House As setting for a the witching hour a her new Hovel about a line of women seduced by an evil spirit that wants to take flesh. The sunny porch is where the Witch Dierdre Mayfair sat drugged senseless but still entranced by her demonic lovers murmurs. The swimming Pool outside was filled with Champagne for Stella Mayfair a Gaudy parties. Rice Points to a tall door in the hallway. A a that a the elevator. Put in by a woman by the name of Pamela Starr Clapp who a supposed to haunt this House. But i Haven to seen Rice said Clapp lived in the House from 1867 to 1932, and she a heard that the previous owners saw her apparition in the dining room. Even though it was said to be a Good presence rather than a malevolent one Rice would just As soon not Sec it herself. A Rye never talked to the previous owners myself. I guess i should. But in a scared of the dark and being alone and i done to encourage Appari Lions a she said a if they re there i done to want to Anne Rice stands inside her Home which plays a major role in her new novel. Sec them. In a not sure i could survive it . This from a woman made famous by a series of sensuous novels about vampires ghosts and the supernatural novel is a wonderful Frame for what i want to do. But i Haven to seen ghosts myself a she said. What she wants to do is write serious books that Are both enjoyable and unforgettable. She has. Written sadomasochistic pornography under the name , Roqu Elaure erotic contemporary novels As Anne rampling and two non supernatural novels under her own name but it is the supernatural ones that have been her biggest successes. Why is that Quot i really Don t know a said Rice 49. A you might As Well ask John Updike Why he writes about new England. You write what works for the supernatural she said allows her to pull together All the disparate elements of her life. A it like to talk about history i like to write from a larger perspective see our lives As if from the outside. All that works wonderfully when in a writing about an immortal a an imagined character that is in a the witching hour a Rice has followed up her earlier works on vampires and mummies with one on witches and ghosts. \ these Aren t your stereotypical witches with magic potions. The Mayfair family witches in this Story Are stronger and stranger than most people have run across in past hovels. The ghost is no Ordinary Shade either. His name is Lasher a seductive powerful wraith whose presence and purposes tantalize the Reader As Rice spins out the Story of the Mayfair witches two of the main characters Michael Curry and Rowan Mayfair enter the tale in san Francisco after Rowan has saved Michael from drowning. As lovers they return to new Orleans and a family Rowan does not know to Deal with her startling heritage and the a a purpose of Michael a drowning and return from beyond. A the Advance from a the witching hour Quot gave Rice the Money to buy her House. She had already finished about five chapters with the Story set in a different kind of House. After moving Back to the City she had left at age 15, she switched the locale to new Orleans and her own House. At least some of a the witching hour Quot characters will return. Rice said she Hadnot planned a sequel but friends who read the Book wanted to learn what happens to Curry. A everything i wanted to put in it was there. But afterwards the first people i showed it to would ask a what happens next you have to get Michael out of there a is what they would say. A you can to do that to a this Story contains information from United press International. The Book is available at stars and stripes bookstores. Kia Hwn the wings of the morning by Thomas Tyron Alfred a Knopf 567 pp., $22.95 no one can fault Thomas Tryon for a Lack of vision or resolve. This Book the first instalment of a promised four Book Seri amp called a kingdom come a a reflects the authors commitment to telling the Story of 19th Century new England through its sea captains Millers landed Gentry roadhouse proprietors and especially their wives and daughters. A this is a Romance novel not a historical novel and one that is very slow developing. For the persistent the final 250 pages Are Tryon at his Best in holding the Reader with suspense there is Little history Here although Tryon does Sprinkle in enough period furniture to give the Story authenticity. _ the novel has a wealth of characters but if Tryon had paid More attention to the plot As in the. Final pages and less to somewhat stilted dialogue this opening Book in the series would have moved More quickly and successfully. It does hold enough Promise that future instalments May be better. V v Brad Smith United press International tender by Mark Childress Harmony books 566 pp., $19,95 so much fiction has been written about the life of Elvis Presley under the Guise of a the real truth and a the uphold Story Quot by everyone from his bodyguards to Distant cousins to hairdressers and psychics there seems no need for another fictionalised account of his life Pong As straight fiction. According to the author of this hefty handsomely jacketed new novel this work is not about Elvis. Its about the myth of Elvis. Therefore the writer can rely of the Well known facts of Presley a life without worrying about thinking up his own plot. And since it s fiction he can make up dialogue and Interior thoughts without worrying about accuracy. It seems a cheap Way to churn out a Book. The Only major changes in the a Story Are some song and movie titles no doubt for copyright reasons and the name of the protagonist. Instead of Elvis Presley it is Leroy Kirby. Leroy is derived from French meaning a the King a and Kirby is also the real name of Singer Mojo Nixon who conjures up More of the original Elvis in one two minute song than Childress can manage in 566 pages. Roger Catlin Hartford Conn courant the end of the Road by Tom Bodet Bantam $4.95 in paperback Tom Bodett lives in Homer Alaska at the end of a paved Road and the end of the Road is the name of the fictional town where these comic stories take place. He obviously has modelled his work on Garrison Keillor s a Lake Wobegon tales but Bodetti a humor has a sharper tone Keillor seems to know and love the people of his imaginary town Bodett knows his. Characters a sometimes a Little better than he would like to a but he j does no to love them. His Low key accounts of their maladroit it nuances pointless feuds and Petty term Mph Are often very funny but 1 someone else ends up As the butt of the jokes Bodetti a commentaries on. National Public radio and his radio commercials for the Motel 6 Chain brought him National prominence a an he gives his own work the same appealing underplayed delivery in a voice As solid and Flat As the Iowa Prairie. V Charles Solomon los Angeles times a books we or will be available at stare and stripes bookstores. Page 16 to plug sunday december 2,1990 a
