We remember Anne Rice (1941-2021)

The bestselling American novelist Anne Rice has died aged 80. Perhaps best known for her novel Interview With the Vampire, Rice was a prolific author of over 30 Gothic, Christian, and erotic novels.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 4, 1941, Rice was educated at St. Joseph’s Academy and then later at Richardson High School. It was there that she met her future husband, the poet Stan Rice, whom she married in 1961. Rice later studied at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, North Texas State College, and then the University of San Francisco, where she obtained a B.A. in Political Science in 1964. Two years later, Anne gave birth to her first daughter, Michele, in 1966, who died from leukaemia in 1972. Rice then returned to study creative writing at San Francisco State University, graduating with an M.A. that same year.

Throughout her studies, Rice maintained a keen interest in being a writer. Citing authors such as Charles Dickens, the Bronte sisters, Stephen King and Shakespeare as her influences, Rice published her debut, Interview With the Vampire, in 1976 — a novel in which a conscience-stricken vampire named Louis recounts his history with the vampire Lestat. Despite harsh early reviews from critics, the novel found a devoted fanbase, and Rice would go on to write 12 more books in the Vampire Chronicles series, as well as other series such as the Mayfair Witches trilogy and the Sleeping Beauty books (written under the penname A. N. Roquelaure). Her books have sold over 150 million copies worldwide and spawned a number of film adaptations.

Anne and Stan Rice’s son, Christopher, was born in 1978 in Berkley, California, and would follow in his mother’s footsteps to become a bestselling writer himself. In a statement from Anne’s Facebook page, Christopher wrote,

“The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated. As my mother, her support for me was unconditional — she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt. As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions.”

Find more books by Anne Rice here.

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Olivia Fricot

Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.

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