With thirty novels that have been translated into twenty-four languages, New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice has earned the devotion of readers throughout the world.
Described by critics as “a beautiful blend of love and humor, with a little bit of magic thrown in,” and “a rare combination of realism and romance,” Rice’s books often center on love, family, nature and the sea. Her latest novel LITTLE NIGHT will be released June 5, 2012.
Her monologue My Almost Family, part of the play In Mother Words, opened at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse on February 23, 2011 and ran at New York’s Primary Stages in fall of 2011.
Rice’s first publication was a poem in This Singing World, Malcolm Johnson’s poetry column in The Hartford Courant. American Girl Magazine published her first short story just four years later. She studied Art History at Connecticut College but left school when her father became ill. In 2002, the school awarded her an honorary degree, Bachelor of Humane Letters, and its Special Collections Library now contains the Luanne Rice Collection.
Rice continued to pursue her writing while supporting herself as a maid in Newport, Rhode Island, a researcher at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., and a whale researcher and deckhand in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Her debut novel, Angels All Over Town, was published in 1985. Rice’s short stories, essays, and articles have been widely published in magazines and newspapers. A Kiss After Dying, Rice’s account of a Connecticut murder trial very personal to her family, kicked off Glamour Magazine’s series of true crime pieces.
Rice lived in Paris for two years; her life there, as well as frequent trips throughout France and Europe, inspired novels about American expatriates in European settings such as Sandcastles, What Matters Most, Secrets of Paris, Light of the Moon and The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners. Her travels to Ireland, the home of her ancestors, have also inspired several novels including The Silver Boat.
Several of Rice’s novels have been adapted for the small screen. These include Crazy in Love for TNT, Blue Moon for CBS, Follow the Stars Home and Silver Bells for Hallmark Hall of Fame, and Lifetime’s 2005 mini-series Beach Girls. Holly Hunter, Bill Pullman, Frances McDormand, Gena Rowlands, Campbell Scott, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Rob Lowe, Julia Ormond, Anne Heche, Tate Donovan, and Sharon Lawrence are just some of the amazing actors that have starred in projects based on Rice’s fan and critic favorites.
A passionate environmentalist, Rice frequently writes essays on beaches, oceans, migratory birds, owls and offshore drilling. At nineteen, she studied with the Sea Education Association and sailed aboard their 100’ staysail schooner through the Bahamas and Caribbean while tracking Humpback whales along their migratory path. In 2008, Rice also traveled with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to Laguna San Ignacio, midway down the Baja Peninsula, to celebrate the NRDC’s successful preservation of the pristine and critical habitat which serves as a birthing ground for gray whales.
Rice is involved with Georgetown University Law Center’s Domestic Violence Clinic. Committed to helping women who have fallen victim to all forms of domestic violence, Rice recognizes that emotional and psychological abuse is just as devastating as physical abuse. Several of Rice’s novels, especially LITTLE NIGHT and including Stone Heart, Summer’s Child, and Summer of Roses, deal with this issue and are included on reading lists for domestic violence sites.
Active in the seaside community where she grew up, Rice is also known for giving impromptu summer writing workshops for children. Partly in homage to her mother, who did the same for Rice and her sisters, Rice enjoys sharing her love of observation, thinking like a writer, and writing every day.
Born in New Britain, Connecticut, Rice is the eldest of three daughters of an Irish Catholic family. Her mother taught English in middle school and her father was a typewriter salesman. Rice divides her time between New York City and Southern California. She travels with her three cats, each of whom has a mysterious, enchanting story of their own.
