Anne Rice was named Howard Allen Frances O'Brien when she was born in New Orleans on 4 October 1941. Howard (who gave herself the name Anne when she entered school) was the second of four girls who were raised in an environment influenced by the teachings of the Catholic Church. While her father, Howard J. O'Brien, encouraged her creativity and contributed to her literary education, her mother, Katherine Allen O'Brien, consciously set out to raise geniuses. Volumes of Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe filled the house, and storytelling was common among the Irish relatives who came to visit. Also inspired by the rich home environment, Anne's older sister became a successful author of historical romances and fantasy novels, writing as Alice Borchardt.
At the Catholic school Anne O'Brien attended, she never felt that she fit in. Her family was poorer than most of the other families, and her large vocabulary, her knowledge of literature, and her individuality made her stand out. The rigidity of school rules was a direct contrast to the relative freedom of her home. Although her mother believed girls could do anything, O'Brien observed different expectations for boys and girls at school.
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