Called Out of Darkness
This month’s Book of the Month Club selection is the captivating memoir “Called Out of Darkness,” by Anne Rice
“Called out of Darkness” is the powerful story of Anne Rice’s journey of spiritual transformation from cradle Catholic, through adult atheism, to a return to devout Catholicism.
Rice shares the childhood memories of her home, church, family life and traditions in New Orleans. This view is a rich and colorful reflection of “faith, beauty and harmony” that she experienced growing up as a devout child in a deeply religious Irish Catholic family.
The deterioration and death of Rice’s alcoholic mother led her to a powerlessness that she resented. Rice’s “faith began to crack apart,” and she left for college to explore the world in search of broader experiences, risk and the life of an artist. As she settled into school and marriage in Berkeley, Calif., she became a nationally know writer for books on vampires and the realms of good and evil, reflecting her own moral struggles. She says during this time she retreated from Catholicism, and stopped believing in the God of her youth.
During that time, Rice experienced personal tragedy when her 5-year-old daughter died of leukemia. She then had a son, Christopher, and spent 38 years writing books that took her on a spiritual journey back to God.
While researching her books, the groundwork for the atheism she embraced became shaky and she eventually lost her faith in the “nonexistence” of God.
In her courageous struggle back to her roots in the church, Rice says it was only through love and trust that belief followed. This book allows religious and secular readers to enjoy the colorful and descriptive world of Anne Rice and her intensely powerful conversion.
Questions for discussion:
1. Think about times when you have doubted your faith. Did you think that you were alone?
2. How do you think that the you could help someone who has questions about their faith and is considering leaving the Catholic Church?