It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
The Witching Hour

The Witching Hour

Lives of the Mayfair Witches

Summary

NOW A MAJOR TV SHOW, FROM THE NETWORK BEHIND THE WALKING DEAD

-----


'Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches series is a surfeit of macabre delights, summoning up lush decadence, gothic secrets, and a little brimstone.'
Holly Black, Sunday Times bestselling author of Book of Night

'Rice's sprawling, supernatural family saga cements her in perpetuity as a titan of the gothic genre. Daring, dark, and lovely.'
S.T. Gibson, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood

'A sensual, genre-defining thriller from the queen of gothic horror.'
Jay Kristoff, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of the Vampire

'Anne Rice did what so few writers do, and created something truly original.'
Cassandra Clare, New York Times bestselling author of Sword Catcher

-----

Rowan Mayfair is special.

A beautiful woman and a brilliant practitioner of neurosurgery, she also has special powers but is unaware that she comes from an ancient line of witches.

One day, Rowan finds the drowned body of a man off the coast of California and brings him to life. He is Michael Curry, who was born in New Orleans and orphaned in childhood by fire on Christmas Eve, who pulled himself up from poverty, and who now, in his brief interval of death, has acquired a sensory power that mystifies and frightens him.

As these two, fiercely drawn to each other, fall in love and set out to solve the mystery of her past and his unwelcome gift, an intricate tale of evil unfolds.

And the witching hour begins.

A hypnotic novel of witchcraft and the occult across four centuries, by the spellbinding, bestselling author of The Vampire Chronicles.

-----

'A curious amalgam of gothic, glamour fiction, alternate history, and high soap opera.'
The Washington Post Book World

'[W]hen I found Rice's work I absolutely loved how she took that genre and (...) made [it] feel so contemporary and relevant.'
Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes

'[Rice wrote] in the great tradition of the gothic'
Ramsey Campbell, bestselling author of The Hungry Moon

-----

READERS ABSOLUTELY THE WITCHING HOUR . . .

***** 'Can't get enough!'

***** 'Chilled me to the bone from the very beginning'

***** 'Dark. Enthralling. Powerful.'

***** 'After the first few pages, I couldn't put it down.'

***** 'Her writing is so good.'

***** 'I absolutely loved this book'

***** ' These books are a wonderful world to enter'

***** 'I am so hooked on this book'

***** 'Haunting, elegant and twisted.'

Reviews

  • Compelling... Sensuous... Engrossing... Rich
    Wall Street Journal

About the author

Anne Rice

Anne Rice was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, which provided the backdrop for many of her famous novels. She was the author of more than 30 books, including her first novel, Interview with the Vampire, which was published in 1976. It has since gone on to become one of the best-selling novels of all time, and was adapted into a major motion picture starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, and Antonio Banderas. In addition to The Vampire Chronicles, Anne was the author of several other best-selling supernatural series including Mayfair Witches, Queen of the Damned, the Wolf Gift, and Ramses the Damned. She passed away in 2021.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more