Echoes of Ballard House (Simone Doucet Book 3) by E. Denise Billups; Real Life Unsolved New Orleans Mystery Combines with Simone Doucet’s Dark Supernatural World

Echoes of Ballard House (Simone Doucet Book 3) by E. Denise Billups; Real Life Unsolved New Orleans Mystery Combines with Simone Doucet’s Dark Supernatural World

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: In the annals of unsolved mysteries, The Axeman of New Orleans is certainly a memorable and terrifying one. Between May 23, 1918-October 27, 1919, a serial killer stalked the streets of New Orleans brandishing their victims with an ax. There were twelve victims, most of them Italian immigrants or Italian-Americans, attributed to the Axeman. On March 13, 1919, a letter reportedly from the Axeman was published in several newspapers which promised more killings but had a unique request. Since the Axeman loved jazz music, on the following Tuesday night, they declared that they would spare any home that had jazz music playing from inside. Jazz musicians were hired and played in hundreds of homes that night. It appeared to work as there were no reported killings during that time. However, three subsequent killings later that year were attributed to the Axeman. The murders apparently stopped for unknown reasons after the final murder on October 27, 1919. The Axeman was never identified and no formal suspicions or arrests were made. To this day, the case remains unsolved. 

This eerie New Orleans legend is featured prominently in E. Denise Billups’ third Simone Doucet Supernatural Mystery, Echoes of Ballard House. It effectively combines a real life murder mystery with Simone's dark interior world of ghosts, visions, and demonic forces that trap the unwary and angry.

Simone is house sitting in a spooky manor called Ballard House, for her friends. Gisele and Theo, while researching information on her ancestors, Antoine and Bleu (introduced and featured prominently in the previous book, Wicked Bleu). While looking after the place, she experiences psychic visions of a bloody murder and an angry spirit. Simone studies the history of the house and one previous owner, Jensen who sold the house to her friends under mysterious circumstances. These circumstances are tied to disturbing family secrets and a bloody murder that took place during the Axeman’s reign of terror. 

Between the two books in the Simone Doucet Series, Wicked Bleu has the stronger sense of characterization particularly dealing with the life, death, and afterlife of Bleu, a Storyville prostitute who had been victimized by racism, misogyny, and abuse and carried those scars beyond death. Echoes of Ballard House, however, is the better of the two in terms of shocks, scares, and the overall unease that comes with reading a horror book. 

The opening reveals that ominous dark psychic energy right away. An unidentified Narrator wanders through the house while jazz is played to appease the Axeman. This figure wanders through Ballard House filled with hate and revenge against their own family members. They want  to kill them and frame the serial murderer for it. There are dueling evils within the house as the Axeman takes life for unimaginable cravings to satisfy bloodlust and sadistic pleasure. But there is something just as bad if not worse about the other character who is plotting to do away with their own family members for personal reasons. The Axeman is killing people that they don’t know but this mysterious Narrator is inflicting the same horror on people that they do know and presumably once loved. One, the Axeman is inhuman, someone that most people can’t imagine what that feels like. Another, the Narrator, is all too human, someone that some might be afraid of becoming. One argument too many, one lost temper, one careless display of weaponry, or buried resentment that boils over. That person could be just as, if not far more, dangerous than any serial killer.

Suspense carries over into the present as the first few chapters explore Jensen, the previous Ballard House owner before Gisele and Theo. He inherited the house from his late aunt, but he learns that the house was obtained under false pretenses. Even though Jensen attempts to right this previous conflict and return the house to the rightful heirs, there is a dark undercurrent that will not be silenced, at times literally. Whispers come through the house about the owners and the crimes that occurred. There is also a startling revelation that causes Jensen to withdraw his ownership of Ballard House. It is a genuinely unexpected twist that provides a disturbing mental image for the Reader to mull over for a few days. 

By the time Simone house sits, Ballard House is completely festered with spirits that affect her physical and psychological well being. She suffers from vivid nightmares, chronic fatigue, migraines, and dizzy spells. In one harrowing chapter, she passes out and has a visualization in which she witnesses the murders in the prologue first hand. The mindset of a psychic can be a troubling one and this chapter is an example of that. 

Simone is on high alert for any dark presences almost to the point of paranoia. She becomes suspicious of the people that surround the house: a pool cleaner, a neighbor and Jensen who befriends the young psychic and may have romantic feelings towards her. Simone’s heightened suspicions also transfer towards Gisele and Theo, long time friends, with whom she never had conflict before. Her visions and fears affect her perceptions so much that she can’t tell friend from enemy. 

The supernatural world is a terrifying one as dark almost demonic presences are driven by rage, desire, insanity, and sins past. But what the Simone Doucet Series excels at is showing the real terror are the human beings that we encounter every day. The racist who dehumanizes those around them so they can justify their attacks.The misogynist who longs to own and use women for his sexual pleasure. The killer who murders without conscience. The family member whose anger towards their relatives turns into homicide. Those are the true terrors. Their actions cause the supernatural disruption proving that humans are more monstrous than any ghostly apparition can ever be.

 

New Book Alert: Wicked Bleu (Simone Doucet Series Book 2) by E. Denise Billups; New Orleans Setting and Haunting Backstory Captivate Supernatural Mystery

New Book Alert: Wicked Bleu (Simone Doucet Series Book 2) by E. Denise Billups; New Orleans Setting and Haunting Backstory Captivate Supernatural Mystery

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If you are going to write a supernatural mystery in which a ghost of a murdered woman haunts her descendant and helpa her solve family mysteries, it might as well be set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

Yes, it's cliche but it is a setting that lends itself to such magic and mystery by its very nature. It is one of the best locations for this type of genre and is one of my favorite places to read about. In good books, New Orleans becomes a character that thrives on this supernatural energy and respect and reverence for all things macabre.

In this case New Orleans is not the only star of E. Denise Billups' Wicked Bleu, the second volume of Billups' Simone Doucet. The other is the title character, Bleu, the ghost of a woman who lived a life of abuse, racism, and sexual assault and makes her voice heard finally. 

First, Bleu invades psychic and magazine writer Simone Doucet's dreams and gives her visual and audio impressions of her presence. Simone had long communicated with her ancestor and spiritual advisor, Delphine so communicating with ghosts is nothing new to her. But, Bleu's presence is more threatening. 

Simone had visions of violence and drowning. Worst of all, her friend, Stacy, seems to be acting strangely like she's possessed. The answers appear to be found in New Orleans so Simone, Stacy, and their friends Mitchell and Jude go to the Big Easy during Mardi Gras to do some super sleuthing and ghost hunting.

The New Orleans setting is very prominent and is filled with spooky elements. There are many passages where Simone and her friends have to face New Orleans' undead residents.

It's an all too easy location to imagine ghosts around every corner from Jackson Square to the Garden District. 

The book also reveals the less savory aspects of New Orleans' past, particularly the Storyville section, a notorious haven for prostitution. When a location has a depraved history of racism and misogyny, there are bound to be spirits trapped because of a society that profited off another's suffering.

Much of the setting adds to Bleu's character revealing why she is a frightening and sympathetic character at the same time. Many of the chapters where she possesses Stacy add to the overall eeriness. Stacy acts contrary to her usual behavior so Simone and the others are concerned for the changes in her friend. 

 Bleu flirts with total strangers and jeopardizes Stacy's health in her pursuit of the pleasures that she had in life. She also cuts Stacy off from her friends by creating dissension and discomfort among them. In her anger over the injustices that she suffered in life, Bleu makes an effort to put the living, especially the woman whom she possesses in an emotional hostage situation. 

We also spend the last third learning about Bleu's history. Simone reads her diary and recounts an abusive lonely life with an immature prostitute mother and being subjected to abuse and degradation in her youth. 

Bleu's diary is heartbreaking as she is buried with secrets that destroyed not only her life but those of the people close to her. The racism and sexism surrounds her as she strives to make a better life for herself but ends up in a far worse situation than she imagined. This guilt and anger compel to seek revenge from beyond the grave and puts innocent modern lives at risk.

Wicked Bleu is an effective supernatural horror novel because it reminds us that some monsters are born and some are made by society.

 

Weekly Reader: The Neon God by Ben D'Alessio; Greek God of Chaos and Wine Comes To Wreck Havoc in -Where Else?-New Orleans

 

Weekly Reader: The Neon God by Ben D'Alessio; Greek God of Chaos and Wine Comes To Wreck Havoc in -Where Else?-New Orleans

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: It would be interesting to imagine that if the Ancient Gods and Goddesses walked among us, what they would do. Zeus could be a CEO with a bevy of beautiful mistresses. Hera would be a marriage counselor or one of those right wing authors who wrote books on happy families. Ares would be a military strategist right in the thick of the action. Artemis and Athena would be spokeswomen for Feminist causes. Who knows?

Another fun one to picture is Dionysus, the God of Wine and Chaos. The god who was often around when his female followers, the Maenads, were at their most violent and bloodthirsty. He was the frequent rival of Apollo, the God of Order. He was often on hand to raise more than a little trouble in Ancient Greece.

Let's face it, in a modern world gone chaotic it wouldn't take much to place Ol' Dio right at the center of it.That is exactly what Ben D'Alessio does in this biting dark comedy, The Neon God.

 In this fractured fantasy, Dionysus explores modern day New Orleans and embraces its fun loving reputation. He finds the bars are always open, the people always ready for a good time, and the superstitious atmosphere perfect for him to make his presence known. While Dionysus, called Dio, by the locals struts down the Big Easy, he captures the interest of Zibby, a law student and wannabe writer. At first when Dio introduces himself, Zibby thinks that he's just exaggerating or speaking in metaphor when he tells her that he is a god. Then some unexplained things start happening and it looks like New Orleans is in the midst of an Act of God (or specifically Act of A God).

The Neon God has a strong sense of place in its setting. It's clear that D'Alessio loves New Orleans for all of its weirdness and eccentricity. Every street and building is brilliantly captured so well that the Reader can practically smell the spicy cooking and hear the jazz and blues music playing on the streets. New Orleans is a place that excites the imagination because of its closeness to the supernatural, magic, and the voodoo culture. The atmosphere is just right for something magical,something unexpected, and eventually something horrifying to happen.

D'Alessio also captures the modern day lives of the ancient gods with a tongue in cheek fashion. Zeus was last seen in Scandinavia answering to the name of Odin and staying as far away from his jealous wife, Hera as possible. Ares has been hanging out in Syria, Nigeria, all of the violent spots. Athena favors Athens, the city which bears her name and so on. The gods and goddesses divvy up the locations on Earth like spots on a Monopoly board game. They are bickering and as volatile as ever and none are too happy about the potential trouble Dionysus is going to cause in New Orleans.

There are some clever allusions to other mythologies and religions. There are implications that the Hellenistic pantheon change their names and appearances to whoever the local deities are. There is even a clever reference to Jesus Christ which is hilarious but will no doubt offend  any Conservative Christian reading.

D'Alessio has so much fun modernizing the gods and goddesses that I wish that he would do more of them. Besides Dionysus himself, we do see a few other mythological characters pop up, like the handsome Adonis who was an ex lover of Dio's. But it would be fascinating to see how much farther that D'Alessio can stretch this concept perhaps with a sequel or even a series focusing on a separate god or goddess living in modern times.

This is Dionysus' book and D'Alessio captures the dual nature of a god whose sole mission is to create chaos out of order and cause destruction.

At first Dio seems like a harmless party animal. He goes bar hopping, flirts with men and women. He rhapsodizes about wine. Wherever he goes, Dio inspires people to let loose, have fun, get drunk, and ignore responsibilities. He opens up that wild fun loving side that sometimes gets suppressed by jobs, commitments, and pesky adulthood.

However, there is a darker side to Dio's nature that has less to do with good drunken fun and more to do with bloody destruction. Dionysus also encouraged his new followers to embrace a more brutal side. The side practiced by the Maenads. They go into bloody frenzies, attacking and eating people, and drinking their blood. Of course while New Orleans is the city for parties, it is also the city for vampires and other dark creatures. Dionysus' devotees become mass murderers living outside of known laws, ethics, morality. They only live for carnage and chaos. A final parade with Dio at the head and his followers close behind is as terrifying as it gets.

A huge misstep that the book has is in the character of Zibby. She is the usual modern exposition character who is supposed to be the one who has to have the weirdness explained to her. She is our normal eyes and ears but when the action turns to her, she's kind of boring. Her presence especially in the middle of Dionysus' gathering of followers brings things to a near halt. When a god is creating a cult of vampire-like beings right in front  of you, now is not the time to be stressing about your law exams or in despair for getting a rejection letter. 

At first I thought Zibby was going to be a love interest for Dionysus, but when that didn't happen she seemed more unnecessary. While we need the point of view of the average New Orleans resident to respond to all the crazy, it might have been more interesting to have more than one person so we can have many different people either excited to join Dionysus,  skeptical of the happenings, or appalled by his behavior. One character just makes the situation rather flat.

Ben D'Alessio clearly had a lot of fun plunking Dionysus in the middle of modern day New Orleans. It would be a great journey to see what other possibilities that this idea takes him.

Classics Corner: The Witching Hour by Anne Rice; Spellbinding Epic Novel About A Family of Witches is Anne Rice’s Best

Classics Corner: The Witching Hour by Anne Rice; Spellbinding Epic Novel About A Family of Witches is Anne Rice’s Best

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: Lestat Who?

Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles is considered her most popular work, but it is far from her best written. At least in this Reader's opinion.

Anne Rice's best work is The Witching Hour, a captivating novel about several generations of a family of witches that is both an epic historical fiction and a spellbinding dark fantasy. Along with Imajica by Clive Barker and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, The Witching Hour is another favorite book that I read this year.




Michael Curry is a 48-year-old house restorer who moved from New Orleans to San Francisco. He survived a near death experience in which he was pulled from the freezing bay by a mysterious woman captaining a yacht. Besides a longing to meet his beautiful rescuer, Michael also has developed psychometry, an ability in which he receives psychic impressions of people by touching their objects. A few times this ability becomes overwhelming as just brushing past objects like clothes, doorknobs, or windows give him these impressions making walking in public areas difficult. Not only that but he is haunted by childhood memories in his native New Orleans in which he walked by a mansion and encountered a creepy ghostly looking gentleman in old-fashioned clothing unseen by his mother. He retreats into alcohol and solitude until he meets his rescuer, Dr. Rowan Mayfair.




Like Michael, Rowan has an interesting ability and a mysterious connection to New Orleans. A neurologist, Rowan has healing powers that have nothing to do with her education and experience as a doctor. She can heal people with a touch but has been known to accidentally kill them as well. She had a couple of victims to her credit including her adopted father.




While Michael's abilities stem from his near-drowning experience, Rowan's abilities appear to be inherited from a family of witches. Even though she is adopted by distant cousins and raised as their daughter, Rowan is the illegitimate daughter of Deirdre Mayfair, a catatonic woman who has been in the care of her domineering aunt, Carlotta.

Oh yes and it is her family manse where Michael encountered the ghostly figure. The Mayfair Family (and a few others) knows about the figure as well. They refer to him as either “The Man” or “Lasher” and he usually appears in the presence of certain specific members as if guarding them and is also seen when said member dies.

Rowan learns about her family at the same time that both her adopted and birth mother die. The deaths send her, Michael, and their new friend Aaron Lightner, a member of the Talamasca, a group that studies paranormal activity, to New Orleans to learn about the history of the mysterious enigmatic Mayfair family.




Rowan and Michael make for a charming couple as they are a study in contrasts. Michael is more emotional and spiritual. He is convinced that he survived his near-death experience because he has to do some good with his abilities. Rowan is more logical and frightened of her abilities wishing they would disappear. Michael has a love of history and a deep connection to the past which is illustrated in his occupation of restoring old houses and his nostalgic feelings for New Orleans. Rowan at first prefers to live in the now, fascinated with medical research and modern living. After she becomes acquainted with Michael and the Mayfairs, Rowan falls in love with this odd family and their history. Michael and Rowan are an excellent team as they become a romantic couple and help each other through their struggles.




The highlight of the book (and the majority of the action) is detailed in a long account that the Talamasca has collected on the Mayfair Family since 17th century Scotland when Petyr Van Abel first met Deborah Mayfair, the daughter of a Scottish woman who was executed as a witch. Petyr helped Deborah escape, and hid her in the Talamasca's Amsterdam headquarters. The lovely Deborah becomes a model for noted Dutch artists like Rembrandt and marries a French count. Petyr meets Deborah again almost twenty years later when she is on trial for witchcraft, accused by her in-laws, and in despair for not only herself but her daughter, Charlotte. Though Peter is unable to save Deborah, he assists Charlotte in her escape and reunites with her years later in Haiti where she heads a plantation and is married to a sickly man. Through Deborah and Charlotte, Peter becomes acquainted with Lasher, a demon who helps the mother and daughter by catering to their needs and continues to be a part of subsequent generations as the family's advisor, lover, familiar, guardian and quite possibly the means of their destruction.




Deborah and Charlotte Mayfair set the pattern of the following generations in which they have extraordinary magical or psychic abilities which are passed from parent to child, mother to daughter mostly (with one exception). The members retain the last name of Mayfair as they travel from France to Haiti ultimately settling in New Orleans in the late 18th century.




The Mayfair Family History is an amazing account as Rice individualizes each member making them brilliant fleshed out characters, an impressive feat considering that she covers nearly 400 years of history. The most intriguing members are the witches: thirteen members that have powerful abilities and are linked by an emerald necklace that they wear on special occasions, their deep connection to Lasher which manifests from infancy, and their designation as the heir to the Mayfair Family legacy. Their strange family legacy of magic and supernatural abilities proves to be a benefit as they become quite powerful because of it but also is destructive as various members fall into unhappy love affairs (some with close family members), violent deaths, and/or self-destructive behaviors.




Among the most interesting of the Mayfair Witches are:

Julien- The only male member with magical abilities, he is active from the mid 19th century to the 1920’s. He is a sophisticated gentleman about town known for his affairs with men and women and his cultural tastes often attending operas and plays. Many of his lovers, especially his male ones, recount his love life which was passionate and stormy as he slept around with just about anyone that moved. He lived to be quite old and died of natural causes.

Mary Beth-One of my favorite characters in the book, Mary Beth, Julien’s niece and possibly daughter, is active from the late 19th century to the 1920’s. She is an ardent businesswoman who increased the Mayfair Family fortune by investing in various companies and technologies. Like Julian, she too has various affairs and dresses like a boy and accompanies Julien to brothels as well as engages in affairs with younger men.

Mary Beth’s savvy business skills brings her family untold wealth and her familial ties, particularly displayed during the family get-togethers that she organizes, allows  th various branches of the Mayfair Family to bond. She too lives to be quite old and dies of cancer.

Stella- Mary Beth's daughter, she is active from the 1910’s to the 1920’s. She is a free-spirited flapper who listens to jazz and flirts with many men including with Stuart Townsend, a member of the Talamasca who disappeared while investigating her. Stella hosts various parties and séances, and brags about her abilities to those outside the family acquiring a reputation as “The Witch of New Orleans”. She also has  a close relationship with her unstable brother, Lionel who during a party shoots  an kills her.

Antha-Stella's daughter, Dierdre's mother, and Rowan's grandmother, she is active from the 1920’s to 1930’s, Antha is more introverted than her mother, Stella and grandmother, Mary Beth. Antha is a romantic budding author who attempts to leave the family legacy behind and settle in New York to begin her writing career. Unfortunately, she is pushed or jumps from a third story window to her death at the Mayfair home.




The other non-magical family members are interesting in their own ways as well from the unstable Lionel, to the secretive Cortland who may be Rowan's biological father, the sweet but mentally disabled, Belle and the ruthless Carlotta who may be responsible for the deaths of various family members. The Mayfairs stand out as individuals and as a unit. It is easy to see why Rowan bonds instantly with the family and despite the scares that she and Michael encounter, is happy to be a part of them.




When the book returns to the present, it drags a bit as Rowan and Michael rebuild the Mayfair house thanks to Rowan inheriting the lot, and Rowan attempts to communicate with Lasher who avoids her until the time is right. However, things begin to pick up when Lasher and Rowan finally meet and the demon reveals his desire to be with her.




Tension and fear develop as the characters’ motives are questioned particularly Lasher's. Is he protecting the family or hurting them? What does he want from them to serve them or to rule over them? Why do the Witches attract him and what is he looking for in them particularly in Rowan? Lasher like the Mayfair Witches builds suspense because even though he fascinates and captivates other characters as well as the Reader, no one knows exactly who he really is and what he wants.

Like the rest of the Mayfairs, Lasher is the type of character that may be fun at a party but only the very foolish would be alone with him.




The story build into a climax as Rowan and Michael learn the reasons for their abilities and why they were called to the Mayfair Home. The conclusion is open-ended as yet another generation is born that will no doubt retain the Mayfair legacy of witchcraft, sexuality, and danger.

Weekly Reader: Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Leveau by Martha Ward; The Voodoo Queens Come To Colorful Life In This Engaging Enchanting Biography

Weekly Reader: Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Leveau by Martha Ward; The Voodoo Queens Come To Colorful Life In This Engaging Enchanting Biography

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: In New Orleans, the name Marie Leveau is a familiar one. In her lifetime, she was considered “The Voodoo Queen”, a priestess who used her connections to Voodoo to help friends and curse enemies. There are plenty of Voodoo shops dedicated to her memory and her grave in the St. Louis Cemetery is often decorated with beads, rum, and other gifts from people who wish to bestow good fortune upon friends or ill luck upon enemies. Many have reported encounters with what could be her ghost. (including this Reader who had a Tarot reading from a very strange woman who disappeared right after.) In her book, Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Leveau, Martha Ward, University Research Professor of Anthropology, Urban Studies, and Women's Studies at the University of New Orleans captures the colorful and controversial spirit of Leveau, showing us a woman and a religion that have both been misunderstood and giving us a book that is both an engaging and effective way in explaining who Leveau was and what Voodoo was really all about. Many misconceptions that people have about Leveau and Voodoo are challenged by Ward’s excellent research and writing that helps the Reader understand Leveau and a religion that has been demonized by Hollywood films and zombie culture.




One of the misconceptions that Ward dispelled right away was that Marie Leveau was only one woman. Actually, she was two: a mother and daughter, Marie the First Leveau Paris Glapion (1801-1881) and Marie the Second Eucharist Heloise Leveau Glapion (1827-1875?). Both women studied Voodoo and developed reputations within their communities as leaders in both the sociopolitical and religious structures.




Much of the book focuses on the Leveaus’ involvement as community leaders as well as priestesses. New Orleans Voodoo, as described by Ward, appears to be a spiritual practice that thrives on communal involvement. The Laveaus often led ceremonial dances and meetings in which the guests sang songs, danced, and ate gumbo while appealing to “La Grand Zombi” (or the Great Spirit.). Their get-togethers were also filled with magic as people appealed to the Leveaus to aid them in obtaining money to repay debts or to curse someone who wronged them. Many of the passages describe the give-and-take process as people who believed in Voodoo offered trinkets, food, and other items to the Leveaus in exchange for their aid in casting spells and offering gris-gris (amulets and other magical talismans that offer protection for the users.).




Voodoo is explored brilliantly in this book by bringing it down to its historic roots. Brought by enslaved people from West Africa to America, Voodoo has its roots in Catholicism as its practitioners communicate with Saints and participate in Catholic rites and rituals as well as Shamanism in which the religious figures have a close connection to the Spirit World and are bridges between the Spirits and the Physical World. Those who follow Voodoo also invoke ancestors as well as spirits who protect them from harm.

The book also is quick to show the differences that New Orleans Voodoo has compared to others such as the more well-known branch, Haitian Voodoo. The emphasis on community is much stronger in the New Orleans branch as Voodoo is often used as a means to bring people together and to challenge the sociopolitical structure around its users.(This was particularly important as many of the practitioners of Voodoo in the Leveaus’ day were often escaped slaves, freed blacks who purchased their freedom, and white women who recognized the following as one that offered them power.)

Also there is a strong female-oriented presence within the New Orleans version as many of the rituals and meetings are headed by women such as the Leveaus. The spiritual training is often passed down from mother to daughter (as between Marie the First to Marie the Second and possibly how the First learned from her mother.) though the training can be between a man and a woman (as one of Leveau's descendants known as “Luke Turner” did to author, Zora Neale Hurston). The female leaders were called Voodoo Queens.

While Voodoo does involve spells from people seeking revenge against hated enemies is present, Voodoo is not the Satanic Zombie-creating religion many perceive. Instead it is a vibrant spiritual practice which involves a deep sense of community and a personal connection with Spirits.




Besides using Voodoo, the Leveaus were also involved in aiding the people around them on more physical levels. Marie the First often helped nurse the sick during the Yellow Fever epidemics and she and her husband also used some clever legal means to buy slaves with the intent of freeing them from bondage.




Marie the Second was just as committed to helping the people around her as her mother. She formed friendships with powerful judges, attorneys, and city government employees. She also used both her magic and allegiances to aid others such as protecting women who were abused by their husbands or obtaining defense for people who had been wrongfully convicted.




The book also focuses on the Leveaus’ complicated lives as Creoles and their romances with men who were considered unsuitable by society's standards. The Leveaus, like many residents of Louisiana, were Creoles, people who had their origins from various places such as France, Spain, and the West Indies. In Marie the First's case she also had ancestry from Africa as well as Europe. Her mother's family came from Central Africa and her father may have been white. Because no portraits or photographs exist of the Leveaus in their lifetimes, no one had a definite idea of their physical appearances. Many eyewitnesses described them as “tall and extremely dark-skinned” or “small and so fair-skinned that they could pass for white.” Their appearances were almost a mirror of New Orleans society and the strange dynamic that the city had among the races which suggested more inclusion and acceptance but still as a Southern state in pre-Civil War America participated in the institution of slavery and later in segregation.




Even the romances between the Maries and the men in their lives were dictated by the standards at the time. Many accounts in Marie the First's lifetime described her husband, Christophe Glapion as a “Free Man of Color,” a description that couldn't be further from the truth (though Ward wrote that many biographers even to this day report this as fact. Even Leveau's younger daughter, Philomene, described him as such.). Actually, he was a white man who declared himself a free light-skinned black man so he could marry Leveau. Despite the anti-miscegenation laws, Leveau and Glapion married, had five children though only two daughters, Marie the Second and Philomene survived to adulthood, and bought a house on St. Anne St.

Marie the Second also had a disadvantageous union. She fell in love with Pierre Crocker, a married man who already had an official mistress (therefore was not permitted to legally have another). Despite this, Marie the Second had five children by Crocker and a longtime relationship with him. The romances between the Leveaus and the men in their lives showed the hypocrisy of New Orleans society which considered itself more free-spirited and liberal than the rest of the U.S.’s more rigid laws, but only up to a certain point. They had definite opinions about racial mixing and that relationships outside of marriage could only be tolerated so far.




Ward’s book also reveals the decline of the Leveaus’ influence but not by magical or spiritual means, but by something that Ward described as “a bird that was more powerful:” Jim Crow. The Jim Crow Segregation laws, put to a stop the Leveaus’ interracial get-togethers and caused their influence in New Orleans society to decline. They never recovered even after Marie the Second disappeared from the public eye in 1873 and may have died in 1875 (though no one knows what actually happened to her) and Marie the First died of natural causes in 1881. However, they got the last laugh as Voodoo and their legacy are still a part of the fabric in New Orleans history and current society.




Voodoo Queens: The Spirited Lives of Marie Leveau, is a brilliantly written and well-researched book that brings the two women to life in a biography that humanizes both them and their religion.