Anne Rice's The Witching Hour is the first novel in her Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy. Published by Knopf in 1990, the novel tells the story of Dr. Rowan Mayfair, a talented neurosurgeon from San Francisco, California. For much of her life, Dr. Mayfair had been estranged with her birth mother, Deirdre Mayfair. Dr. Mayfair had previously not known much about her birth family, and her birth mother's death gave her the opportunity to learn more.
Eventually, Dr. Mayfair learns that she has the psychic ability to either take or save a life after she saves the life of a man called Michael, who had drowned. The two fall in love, and the two stay in New Orleans together.
At the same time, a scholar named Aaron Lightner continues to study the Mayfairs after doing so from afar for decades. The Mayfairs, readers learn, are called the "Mayfair Witches" by townspeople. Eventually, it is revealed that Michael has Mayfair ancestry. Nevertheless, he and Dr. Mayfair get married and have a child. A man called Lasher reveals himself, and he and Dr. Mayfair play a game of cat and mouse that ultimately leads to terror and death.
Like many of Rice's books, The Witching Hour was a smashing success. The novel debuted at the number two spot on the New York Times bestseller list, a spot it stayed at for four weeks (the book would stay a total of 22 weeks on the bestseller list). Critical reviews certainly reflected that. Many critics, including Susan Ferraro of The New York Times enjoyed the book, and called the novel "unquestionably absorbing."
Those positive reviews have resulted in a television adaption for television nearly 30 years later. Entitled Lives of the Mayfair Witches, the show will tell the story of the novel through film.
