Cry to Heaven

Author Essay

I agree with Patrick.  CRY TO HEAVEN is my favorite Anne Rice novel, next to MEMNOCH THE DEVIL.  Anne Rice has a real gift for transporting her readers to a different time and place.  As you read CRY TO HEAVEN, you lose yourself in all the grandeur of eighteenth century Italian life and the otherworldy society of the castrati.

I think I enjoyed this book because it told such a unique story.  Before reading CRY TO HEAVEN, I knew nothing about castrati. Anne Rice takes you deep inside their world, showing you their pain at being shunned as "half-men" and their pleasure at being the adulation of the royal courts and grand opera houses of Europe.

— Jennifer Richards
Publicity

I’d argue that CRY TO HEAVEN is Anne Rice’s single most underrated masterpiece.  While I’ve been a fan for over a decade and am always excited to revisit Lestat or the Mayfair witches, I was particularly thrilled to read this earlier work.  CRY TO HEAVEN is a stand-alone gem.  Set in the splendor of eighteenth-century Venice, it’s a classic tale of obsession and driven revenge.  Those who enjoy the complexity of Rice’s vampires will find the celebrated but powerless castrati equally fascinating.  And although there may be nothing specifically supernatural aside from the fantastic spell of the castrati’s voices, all the gorgeous and sensual imagery, richly drawn characters, and epic plotting we’ve come to expect from Anne Rice is all there — and more.

Patrick Price
Ballantine Books Publicity