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Anne McCaffrey Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Anne McCaffrey

Anne McCaffrey

How to pronounce Anne McCaffrey: muh-KAF-free

Anne McCaffrey Biography

Anne McCaffrey was born in 1926, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, majoring in Slavonic Languages and Literatures.

She spent some years on the stage as a character actress, appearing in the first successful summer music circus in Lambertsville, NJ. She also worked for Liberty Music Shops and Helena Rubinstein, until the birth of Alec Anthony, the first of her three children, in 1952.

McCaffrey's first story was published by Sam Moskowitz in Science Fiction + Magazine. She wrote her first novel, Restoree, published by Ballantine Books in 1967, as a protest against the unrealistic portrayals of women in s-f novels in the 50s and early 60s. She has written a wide range of s-f novels but is best known for her books set on the world of Pern, which began with Dragonflight (1968). In total, she wrote almost 100 books; coauthoring her later books with her son, Todd.

In her final years, arthritis restricted her travel so she spent most of her time in the house she designed, Dragonhold-Underhill (because she had to dig out a hill on her farm to build it) in Wicklow County, Ireland where she ran a private livery stable.

She died, aged 85, on November 21, 2011 following a stroke. She is survived by her two sons and a daughter.

Anne McCaffrey's website

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Books by this Author

Books by Anne McCaffrey at BookBrowse
Dragon Harper jacket The Masterharper of Pern jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Anne McCaffrey but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Diana Wynne Jones

    Diana Wynne Jones

    Diana Wynne Jones was born in August 1934 in London, where she had a chaotic and unsettled childhood against the background of World War II. The family moved around a lot, finally settling in rural Essex. As children, Diana... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Masterharper of Pern

    Try:
    The Merlin Conspiracy
    by Diana Wynne Jones

  • Christopher Paolini

    Christopher Paolini

    Christopher Paolini is the author of the international bestsellers Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance, as well as The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm. His debut science fiction novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, is now ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Masterharper of Pern

    Try:
    Eragon
    by Christopher Paolini

We recommend 2 similar authors


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  • "Beyond the Book" articles
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BookBrowse Book Club

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    The Lilac People
    by Milo Todd
    For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, a poignant tale of a trans man’s survival in Nazi Germany and postwar Berlin.

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    In Erased, Anna Malaika Tubbs recovers all that American patriarchy has tried to destroy.

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