Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints

It's not about vampires. Rice's novel is set in pre-Civil War New Orleans among free people of color. They enjoy certain privileges of middleclass society while still dealing with class, race, and sex. Cecil St. Marie (Rueben) is the mistress of white plantation owner Philippe Ferronnaire (Gallagher). He makes certain promises to his children by Cecil--Marcel (Ri'chard) and Marie (Lyn)--which he fails to keep, thus causing family dissension. As the children grow into adults they face romantic and societal dilemmas of their own. Excellent cast does well by the sometimes melodramatic story. Title refers to the day for remembering the dead.