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Are you from New Orleans?
Do you call New Orleans "home?"
Has New Orleans stolen your heart?
Do you know what it means to love New Orleans?
No New Orleanian or anyone who cares about New Orleans will want to miss having a copy of Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré on their table!
If you want to dream, remember, recall, recite, reminisce, memorize, sentimentalize, laugh, smile, sing, cry, frown, hope, envision, ruminate, muse, talk, think, rendezvous, understand, rebuild, applaud and commit to memory...
Read and see this book. Start to finish.
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Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré
An award-winning new book about New Orleans by — TJ Fisher, Roy F. Guste, Jr. and Louis Sahuc
THE STORY
Three documentarists explore the public facade and private soul of the historic French Quarter of New Orleans; capturing life before and behind its walls, in photos and in words, as they journey deep into this lush, secretive Old World city tethered in hope and endurance, in history and culture, in romance and despair, in sorrow and celebration.
The Vieux Carré — a muse memorable enough to bewitch and haunt us — has long whispered a siren's song of quiet, epic, elegant, tragic and bawdy stories to those who will listen.
Seductive and surreal, the French Quarter, the heartbeat and soul of New Orleans, is the keeper of this great American city's rich history, passions, customs and culture. Here the complex atmosphere and undercurrent of a bygone age peeks through the dim eternal twilight.
Post-Katrina, the Vieux Carré remains a mesmeric land of interwoven dreams and shadowed legacies; the passing decades have created a haunting landscape that captures the substance and tradition of this city sodden in splendor and decay, in riches and corrosion, in memory and intrigue.
An awesome cultural flowering spread over three centuries is still evident in the French Quarter's proud architecture and gardens, influences and impulses, lifestyle and heritage.
No average coffee-table book, here is a bittersweet narrative and photographic story of the Vieux Carré and more. Paying tribute to an age-old city — pummeled and storm-lashed, divided yet reunited and resolute in its darkest hours — this compelling work embraces the spirit and shared vision that helps the people of New Orleans stare down, rise above and survive the passage of time and disaster.
A highly unusual offering in the marketplace, this original, unprecedented compilation is a crossover title that breaks boundaries and bypasses the norm.
A POETIC AND PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY
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"An enchanting peek inside the elusively secret and mysterious parts of the indomitable French Quarter. This is the real Vieux Carré rarely glimpsed by outsiders." — FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
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"Sumptuously photographed, this book presents the esoteric and efflorescent truth of the Vieux Carré and why there is no other place like it in the world." — NICOLAS CAGE
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"The Vieux Carré was my window to the tropics before there ever was a Margaritaville song or restaurant. It was the place for all us children of the coast, who were lucky enough to see the gardens, smell the gumbo and hear the music that spoke of a larger and more interesting world beyond the path of Highway 90. I have been lucky enough to see many views of many places that are called paradise, but my first view was a banana tree in a Vieux Carré garden. I can remember that view nearly 50 years later as if it were yesterday. In a world filled with many storms and much uncertainty, the Vieux Carré was, still is and will hopefully always be a shelter from the storms." — JIMMY BUFFETT
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"What a visual palette. Wow! — This is truly the New Orleans I love." — EMERIL LAGASSE
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"This lovely work is a touching journey; it takes us deep behind closed doors and locked gates into the ancient soul and stillness of the French Quarter." — LENNY KRAVITZ
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"Few realize the visual excitement hidden behind French Quarter doors. Beyond the traffic and tourists, at the end of narrow brick paths, vines grow and fountains flow, uninterrupted for more than 150 years. These living masterpieces are a unique part of New Orleans and American culture." — GEORGE RODRIGUE, artist
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"This magnificently realized work reminds us that the beauty of our great city lies not only in what the eyes capture, but in what the heart feels. New Orleans has a secret soul." — HARRY ANDERSON
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"This stunning book reveals the beauty and romance of New Orleans and returns me to my childhood. It's a treasure and makes the perfect gift." — PATRICIA CLARKSON
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"Living in the Vieux Carré trumps all other neighborhood experiences. The Quarter constantly astonishes, and this book reveals many of its delicious secrets." — TAYLOR HACKFORD & HELEN MIRREN
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"An intimate look at the city Tennessee Williams called his spiritual home — the nooks and crannies of its heart and the beautiful intricacies of its endearing and enduring soul."
— KARISSA KARY, Associate Director, The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival
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"This book captures the haunting beauty of these Edenic gardens like no other I have read about the Vieux Carré. I am glad that we have this book to remind us of their fragile beauty and to embolden us to do something about their eventual return."
— JAMES H. MEREDITH, President, Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society
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"In the great tradition of Irish writers TJ Fisher gives us the soul of the Quarter and puts New Orleans in our arms before and after Katrina. New Orleans is so blessed." — DANNY O'FLAHERTY, Celtic balladeer
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"Roy F. Guste, Jr., scion of an old Creole family, is among the initiated who know the lush tropical gardens of the French Quarter intimately from a lifetime of invitations for café au lait in the morning or tea laced with mint late afternoons or, perhaps a stronger aperitif after dark. With the familiarity of a lover, he brings to life the secret beauties of this neighborhood to those who have only glimpsed their voluptuous glory through the iron lace of garden gates. A must for those who treasure New Orleans."
— ROSEMARY JAMES, Co-Founder, The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society
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"This is simply the best book that has been written about the enchanted gardens of the Vieux Carré."
— JOE DESALVO, owner, Faulkner House Books
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"An ideal testament to the extraordinary beauty hidden inside the patios and courtyards of the French Quarter ... a view that is unique, treasured and desired."
— E. RALPH LUPIN, M.D., Chairman, Vieux Carré Commission
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"We who live in the French Quarter enjoy sharing our treasures with the world. This book brings you behind the walls and gates and reveals our most charming secrets."
— NATHAN CHAPMAN, President, Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents and Associates
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"My life, my love and my soul are buried in the Vieux Carré." — DORIAN BENNETT
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"Amazing ... 'Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré' is a lushly produced inside look at the mysteries of the French Quarter through the eyes and lenses of local aristocrats TJ Fisher, Roy F. Guste, Jr. and Louis Sahuc ... a cornucopia of stories, and their collaboration makes for a coffee table that can brew, not just hold, your coffee." — ANDREI CODRESCU, poet, novelist, columnist and essayist, author of Wakefield and New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writing from the City
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"New Orleans has many faces and wears many masks. This seductive book invites you behind the Crescent City's legendary facades into some of its most beautiful and best-kept secret places. It is a feast for those who prize the city's timeless charms." — TOM PIAZZA, author of My Cold War and Why New Orleans Matters
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"Undeniably one of the great books on New Orleans. TJ Fisher blends her unique style of real nonfiction to lure us into the hidden layers of this intoxicating city. She wins our souls as we wind through New Orleans with her rediscovering its intoxicating uniqueness ... An unforgettable journey into the soul of New Orleans, the book simmers with delicious prose ... to create an unforgettable reading experience. A must read for any serious lover of Southern fiction, nonfiction and superior prose." — DR. ROSARY O'NEILL, acclaimed author and award-winning playwright of internationally celebrated works that often center on the people and places of New Orleans; founding artistic director of NOLA's Southern Repertory Theater
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"Magnificent ... phenomenal ... exquisite and gut wrenching ... in a style reminiscent of Lafcadio Hearn, in helping the reader to push aside those gossamer curtains and to peek inside the marvels of the Vieux Carré ... if only for a fleeting moment." — from one of the nation’s leading librarians
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"Among perhaps sixty published books that I've been involved with as editor ... this is perhaps my favorite so far, and for good cause." — RON KENNER, editor and former The Los Angeles Times Metro staff writer
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"Profound and far-reaching ... broadly waking up people's awareness, sensitivities and compassionate responsibilities ... the essence of why this city is so special ... elegant, beautiful, mystical, harsh and thought provoking. You have portrayed all this by successfully merging such contrastingly beautiful qualities with its darker side." — DIANNE HARRIS, French Quarter resident and small business owner, proprietor of Oonkas Boonkas and Zogwald's
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"Wow. What a great way to put my home into 5.3 lbs! It's simply awesome. I can actually smell the street corners. Seriously. I'm going to treasure this book slowly, starting tonight." — JOSHUA CLARK, author of Heart Like Water: Surviving Katrina and Life in Its Disaster Zone and editor of Louisiana in Words and French Quarter Fiction
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"The long-awaited reissue of Roy F. Guste Jr.'s The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré: The Historic French Quarter of New Orleans is out in a collector's edition which contains the lagniappe of some very special bookends, Orléans Embrace, a passionate reflection on the French Quarter in two parts by TJ Fisher." — LAFETE NEWS
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"I'd rather have Morgana Press' Orléans Embrace, by TJ Fisher, Roy F. Guste, Jr., and Louis Sahuc Photo Works, than half-a-dozen other books published on the subject. What the eye can see the heart can remember. Be a New Orleanian wherever you are, sugar. This volume will help you do the trick. 'Yours Truly in a Swamp.'"
— LEONARD EARL JOHNSON, contributor to Louisiana in Words and French Quarter Fiction
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"A return to romance: New Orleans style." — ALYSHA SIDEMAN, CYGNUS/IMAGINGINFO.COM
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"Incomparable ... much more than a display book ... Keep this insightful book nearby on an easy to reach shelf or even on the coffee table for a quick pick-me-up ... absorb the words and pictures little by little ... emotional and evocative of an enchanted almost mythological place." — GEORGENE A. BRAMLAGE, SUITE101
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"I love this book. It is the best book of New Orleans I have ever read." — BLAINE KERN (MR. MARDI GRAS)
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"Orléans Embrace is the perfect coffee table centerpiece ... a passionate and galvanizing narrative about the Crescent City's struggles and triumphs since the storm ... a remarkable job conveying to readers the significance of the historic French Quarter and why it must be preserved." — STEVE O'KEEFE, AUTHORVIEWS
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An exclusive invitation to see the
secret side of the French Quarter…
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This unique compilation features a centerpiece offering of the classic edition The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré: The Historic French Quarter of New Orleans — shown in its entirety, as the original. For more than a decade, the splendor of this longtime collectible and out-of-print work has been unavailable to readers and fans worldwide, except through the purchase of a rarified 1993 book, at a collector's price. Now, through and in conjunction with the Morgana Press publication of a 388-page 1st edition commemorative title, The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré is being reintroduced.
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Descriptive book notes from the 1993 title The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré: The Historic French Quarter of New Orleans — Despite the freewheeling, out-in-the-open quality of New Orleans culture, with its proliferation of street music and open-air activity, there are some places in the city's renowned Vieux Carré that tease passersby with their unwillingness to be seen. They are the secluded gardens of the French Quarter, which lie behind wrought-iron gates, at the end of narrow alleys, over high walls; their reticence tempts every visitor to try to look inside.
Roy Guste, Jr., is somewhat of a New Orleans celebrity: he is a member of the family that has owned the city's most famous restaurant, Antoine's, and for many years was its proprietor. He is the perfect host, then, for a tour of some of the city's hidden jewels. The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré allows you to go behind the barriers and experience the French Quarter's beautiful gardens firsthand, getting a glimpse of true, elegant New Orleans lifestyle.
The book takes the reader on a tour of twenty of the most gorgeous gardens in the Vieux Carré, the city's oldest neighborhood. The climate of New Orleans is near-tropical, and so are its gardens; here, in photographs by the author and noted New Orleans photographer Glade Bilby, you will see fig trees, jasmine, gingers, Japanese plum trees, wisteria, and bougainvillea set in gardens that give the appearance of laxity but, on closer inspection, reflect great attention to detail. The French and Spanish-style houses and courtyards are all poignant bits of history, and as he leads you through the gardens, Guste offers descriptions of both their aesthetic beauty and their documents past. The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré is the perfect book for anybody who wants to penetrate some of the most treasured and well-kept mysteries of this beautifully mysterious city.
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See further, delve deeper into…
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COMMEMORATIVE-EDITION SONGS
BALLADS OF EMOTION AND ROMANCE
America’s story Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré is being celebrated in word and song.
For those who know what it means to fall under the siren call and spell of the ageless temptress New Orleans, this hauntingly beautiful and soulful musical tribute was specifically written and recorded in honor of the book's release.
A trilogy of storytelling songs, the companion music to Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré tells the story of 300 hundred years of remembrances memorialized in the book.
"Coming Home to You" is a New Orleans-based anthem dedicated to those blessed enough to call New Orleans "home" and to both those who have and have not been able to return to the city they love, New Orleans. The work symbolizes the city's spirit of hope, rebuilding and triumph over sorrow. The song reveals deep connections with Orléans Embrace, the bracing and moving narrative-and-pictorial portion of the book by TJ Fisher and Louis Sahuc — a distinctive and powerful stand-alone work draped in beauty and grace.
"The Secret Gardens" and "Flower Dance" celebrate the eternal mystery and magic that still lives on, interrupted, within the Vieux Carré. These songs were inspired by and pay homage to the centerpiece section of the book, the classic The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré by Roy F. Guste, Jr., a work well recognized as capturing the timeless essence of the secret gardens and courtyards of the historical French Quarter of New Orleans.
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This special musical offering by internationally distinguished Celtic balladeer and musician Danny O'Flaherty is currently available for purchase, in cooperation and collaboration with Morgana Press of New Orleans, with profits to French Quarter preservation.
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Morgana Press is pleased for the opportunity to include the following in-book acknowledgment and recommendation in the back material of its debut title Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
Thank you to The Times-Picayune newspaper and affiliated Nola.com website for being the hometown Louisianian lifeline that united a broken community in its darkest hours — by providing breaking news, forums and blogs that saved countless lives, uplifted spirits and gave hope. In addition to the newspaper’s passionate and dedicated staff of reporters and photographers, who received two Pulitzer Prizes for heroic and comprehensive coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, New Orleanians also applaud the local piquant columnists who represent everyman’s voice and consciousness of what it feels like to live in and love a place called New Orleans.
Additional recommended reading for those who love New Orleans:
1 Dead in the Attic
by Chris Rose
The Great Deluge:
Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
by Douglas Brinkley
My New Orleans:
Ballads to the Big Easy by Her Sons, Daughters, and Lovers
by Rosemary James (editor)
Why New Orleans Matters
by Tom Piazza
New Orleans, Mon Amour:
Twenty Years of Writings From the City
by Andrei Codrescu
Breach of Faith:
Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City
by Jed Horne
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