Product Description

"The legend of Marie Laveau, New Orleans' Voudou Queen, has a compelling hold on the popular imagination. Carolyn Morrow Long uncovers the fascinating story of the flesh-and-blood woman behind the legend and in so doing enriches our understanding of life in New Orleans in the nineteenth century."--Vaughan B. Baker, University of Louisiana, Lafayette

Against the backdrop of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century New Orleans, A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau disentangles the complex threads of the legend surrounding the famous Voudou priestess. According to mysterious, oft-told tales, Laveau was an extraordinary celebrity whose sorcery-fueled influence extended widely from slaves to upper-class whites. Some accounts claim that she led the "orgiastic" Voudou dances in Congo Square and on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, kept a gigantic snake named Zombi, and was the proprietress of an infamous house of assignation. Though legendary for an unusual combination of spiritual power, beauty, charisma, showmanship, intimidation, and shrewd business sense, she also was known for her kindness and charity, nursing yellow fever victims and ministering to condemned prisoners, and her devotion to the Roman Catholic Church. The true story of Marie Laveau, though considerably less flamboyant than the legend, is equally compelling.

In separating verifiable fact from semi-truths and complete fabrication, Long explores the unique social, political, and legal setting in which the lives of Marie Laveau's African and European ancestors became intertwined. Changes in New Orleans engendered by French and Spanish rule, the Louisiana Purchase, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow segregation affected seven generations of Laveau's family, from enslaved great-grandparents of pure African blood to great-grandchildren who were legally classified as white. Simultaneously, Long examines the evolution of New Orleans Voudou, which until recently has been ignored by scholars.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1380493 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Review
... when most black Southern women were slaves, this savvy woman found not only freedom but tremendous power through her resourcefulness. -- Deep

...a figure who stood at the very nexus of religion, magic, commerce and history... -- New Orleans Times-Picayune, Sunday, October 22, 2006

...as alluring as Marie Laveau...a figure who stood at the very nexus of religion, magic, commerce, and history...fascinating, well-documented... -- New Orleans Times - Picayune

...compelling... -- The Birmingham Times

...there are few figures in New Orleans history as alluring as Marie Laveau... fascinating. -- New Orleans Times-Picayune, Sunday, October 22, 2006

[Long] understands the appeal of the legend, the reason for its survival, even as she painstakingly dismantles it. -- New Orleans Times-Picayune, Sunday, October 22, 2006

Review

About the Author
Carolyn Morrow Long is research associate at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Customer Reviews

Enter the world of Marie Laveau
The research and details in this book are incredible. Dates, names, addresses - this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the life of Marie Laveau, or just New Orleans history. I'm taking the book on my next trip to the Crescent city to visit some of the places Long mentions in her book. Very well documented and extremely readable.

Required Reading
Carolyn Long's latest work, like her earlier Spiritual Merchants, is an fascinating piece of historical detective work. Sifting through the legends that surround Marie Laveau--and briefly Voodoo in general--she has produced a readable, highly-accurate biography. Those who are hoping to find titillating accounts of midnight Voodoo orgies within its pages will be disappointed. Instead, what readers will discover are the facts behind a woman who has been alternately vilified and lionized by the American public. Voudou Priestess demystifies Laveau and gives future scholars as well as general readers a firm foundation upon which to base their understandings of Voudou and its ministers.

All You Need--and More Than You Expected--to Know
Carolyn Morrow Long's portrait of the elusive but everpresent Marie Laveau is an awesome feat of detective work, a painstaking investigation of all the available church, court, government, and anecdotal records. In conveying her very thorough research in a clear, orderly, and graceful style, Long has produced as comprehensive a picture of this fabled woman as we are likely to get. Her account is definitive, and is likely to remain so for years to come.

--Stanford Pritchard, Middlebury, VT