Cry to Heaven: A Novel - Softcover

Rice, Anne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345373707 ISBN 13: 9780345373700

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1991

Synopsis

In a sweeping saga of music and vengeance, the acclaimed author of The Vampire Chronicles draws readers into eighteenth-century Italy, bringing to life the decadence beneath the shimmering surface of Venice, the wild frivolity of Naples, and the magnetic terror of its shadow, Vesuvius. This is the story of the castrati, the exquisite and otherworldly sopranos whose graceful bodies and glorious voices win the adulation of royal courts and grand opera houses throughout Europe. These men are revered as idols—and, at the same time, scorned for all they are not.
 
Praise for Anne Rice and Cry to Heaven
 
“Daring and imaginative . . . [Anne] Rice seems like nothing less than a magician: It is a pure and uncanny talent that can give a voice to monsters and angels both.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“To read Anne Rice is to become giddy as if spinnning through the mind of time.”—San Francisco Chronicle
 
“If you surrender and go with her . . . you have surrendered to enchantment, as in a voluptuous dream.”—The Boston Globe
 
“Rice is eerily good at making the impossible seem self-evident.”—Time

About this title

Review:

The acclaimed author of Servant of the Bones makes real for us the exquisite and otherworldly society of the eighteenth-century castrati, the delicate and alluring male sopranos whose graceful bodies and glorious voices brought them the adulation of the royal courts and grand opera houses of Europe, men who lived as idols, concealing their pain as they were adored as angels, yet shunned as half men.

From the Publisher:

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

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0345373707
• ISBN 13: 9780345373700
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 544