Season

"Season" (originally published in 2006 as "Voodoo Season") revisits the mystical landscape of New Orleans — and its most famous Voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau — that Jewell Parker Rhodes introduced us to in her previous novel "Voodoo Dreams." This time, the award-winning author of historical fiction sets the story in the here and now.

Meet Marie Levant. The great-great granddaughter of the beloved, tantalizing Marie Laveau, she is compelled by unseen forces to leave her medical career in Chicago behind and return to her roots. But once she arrives in New Orleans, Marie is both seduced and horrified by this mysterious landscape whose slave-holding past merges with the spoils of the 21st century. A place where the Quadroon Balls of yesterday are a present reality, and women of color are still being abused and — even more horrifying — rendered "undead." Yet through it all, Marie can't help but sense that she's lived here before ... and that maybe there's more to this city's history — and her own.

With "Season," Rhodes once again presents her legions of fans with a heroine of authentic power and an alluring, unforgettable read.

Read about the second and third books in the trilogy begun by "Season."