One of the characters of "The Visitor" is Conrad Lanfear who first appears to Mirisa during her first year at the Lanfear Plantation.
Conrad was born and lived on the family plantation in the mid-1700s. In 1716, the French founded Natchez as Fort Rosalie; it became the dominant town and trading post of the area. In the early 18th century, the Roman Catholic Church created pioneer parishes at Old Biloxi/Ocean Springs and Natchez. The church also established seven pioneer parishes in Louisiana and two in Alabama, which was also part of New France. Tribes include the Chickasaw and Choctaw. Other tribes who inhabited the territory of Mississippi include the Natchez.
During this period, there were numerous skirmishes between the settlers and the native Americans. After the killing of the Chief during one of the skirmishes, a curse fell on the Lanfear family resulting in unexplained accidents besieging the family for generations.
Conrad took to a life as a hired gun riding with Algonquin's
brother, Sequasi. Both were members of the Choctaw nation. Despite Algonquin's attempts to lift the curse, they knew it would only be lifted when Mirisa crossed the threshold of the plantation and only if Conrad could bring her into his world voluntarily. Through the story is his seduction of her and then the impregnable bond that is created in the ritual.
Conrad remains through the story though his presence is always elusive though important as Mirisa struggles with the ups and downs of her life. Always present, he chooses when to intervene and when to appear but always giving her the ability to handle life even if it will be destructive.
The tie of Conrad with the plantation is found strongest in Simone, the fat yellow cat who has lived in the plantation house for centuries and who is unable to leave the house. The other connection is with Jasmine who like Conrad is there to guide and observe but never interfere. Minnie and Mrs. Chauvin are both from long lines of seerees who dabble in the underbelly of the practices of physical world with superstition and folk lore. The last connection between the two worlds is Dog, the coyote who travels through Mirisa's life protecting her and the children.
The story is around two of Conrad's descendants, Dominic who ignores the folklore of his ancestors and Dog Moon who is chief of the Choctaw nation in the latter half of the 19th century. Both exhibit the same traits as their great-grandfather. Conrad and Algonquin's first son is raised by his brother Jake on the plantation as Jake and Sara's child. Dominic descends from the first son while Dog Moon descends from a son who was born after they travel with the tribe to Oklahoma.
Is this a ghost story? It is infused with just a touch of the past pulling Mirisa into a life from which she becomes so entangled that she can't break away but the story is about her unusual life and unbreakable love to the men who would kill to keep her in their lives. Conrad is with Mirisa until the end of the story but his existence remains just on the cusp of existence.
