Violin

In the grand manner of Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice's moves across time and the continents, from nineteenth-century Vienna to a St. Charles Greek Rivival mansion in present-day New Orleans to the dazzling capitals of the modern-day world, telling a story of two charismatic figures bound to each other by a passionate commitment to music as a means of rapture, seduction, and liberation. At the novel's center: a uniquely fascinating woman, Triana-who once dreamed of becoming a great musician-and the demonic fiddler Stefan, tormented ghost of a Russian aristocrat, who begins to prey upon her, using his magic violin first to enchant, then to dominate and draw her into a state of madness through the music she loves. But Triana understands the power of the music perhaps even more than does Stefan-and she sets out to reist Stefan and to fight not only for her sanity but for her life. The struggle draws them both into a terrifying supernatural realm where they find themselves surrounded by memories, by horrors, and by overwhelming truths. Battling desperately, they are at last propelled towards the novel's astonishing and unforgettable climax. Violin is crowded with the history, the drama, the invention, and the romantic intensity that have become synonymous with Anne Rice at her incomparable best. Copyright 1997 by Anne O'Brien Rice. Published by Ballantine Publishing Group.

Hardcover cover image published by Knopf. Jacket painting: Saint Sebastian by Guido Reni. Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy. Scala/Art Resource, New York. Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson.