37 ratings | 3 reviews | avg rating:4.57

Rachel Crowther’s Followers (16)

Rachel’s Bookshelves

to-read (0)
currently-reading (3)
read (38)

Rachel’s Friends

Rachel hasn't connected with their friends on Goodreads, yet.

Rachel Crowther

Goodreads Author

Born

The United Kingdom

Genre

Fiction, Contemporary

Member Since

July 2016

edit data

Rachel Crowther qualified as a doctor and worked in the NHS for twenty years before succumbing to a lifelong yearning to write fiction, previously indulged during successive bouts of maternity leave. She has an MA in Creative Writing with distinction from Oxford Brookes, and a string of prizes for her short fiction.

Her first novel, THE PARTRIDGE AND THE PELICAN, was published in 2011 and was a Tatler ‘sizzling summer read’. THE THINGS YOU DO FOR LOVE is published in August 2016 and has been called 'a delight of a read' by Fay Weldon, 'the very best sort of fiction' by Juliet Nicolson (A House Full of Daughters) and 'a richly textured tale of life and love' by Richard Mason (The Drowning People).

Rachel has five children, two mad dogs and a ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Rachel Crowther questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Rachel Crowther Back in the days when I had very little time to write, I used to scoff at writer’s block. I remember being in a workshop once with someone who was fin…moreBack in the days when I had very little time to write, I used to scoff at writer’s block. I remember being in a workshop once with someone who was finding it hard to decide whether he’d write better if he’d already been to the gym that day, or whether having the gym as a reward to look forward to would make his writing time more productive. I was incredulous: you mean, you’re choosing to spend time in the gym when you could be writing? You’ve got time to write and you’re not getting on with it as fast as your typing fingers can carry you? Me, I have to make the most of every minute I have! I don’t have time for luxuries like writer’s block!

But as I began to have a little more time for writing, I began to understand. If you’ve got all day every day to write (and that’s still not me, I fear) you’re not going to be actually writing every minute of every day. You need thinking time, planning time, digesting time – even panicking, despairing time. If you spend most of the week waiting for the glorious empty hours you’ve carved out to write, you’re more likely to hit the ground running, but even then you may not be able to pick up the thread at once. If you’ve had to break off to edit something else, or to deal with a crisis of some kind, you might find it difficult to immerse yourself in whatever you’re writing again – and sometimes, in the middle of a long project, the whole thing just feels stale and flat and worthless, and you just can’t see the point.

So I think there are several different kinds of writer’s block, and they have different remedies. If you’ve lost your place, going back to the beginning and reading through from page one again often helps you to work your way back into it. If you’ve written yourself to a standstill, maybe that’s the time for a dog walk (or even, if you’re so minded, the gym). If you’re in the doldrums, writing something else might help – or even leaving the place where you’re stuck and leaping on to another point in the book, an episode you’re more excited about. But in the end, I take a pretty brisk tone with myself: if you’re serious about writing, then write. Write anything – get some words down – and it’ll help you move forwards.(less)

flag

like
Comment

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Rachel Crowther The best thing about being a writer – with apologies for what might seem an unhelpful answer! – is writing. For me, there’s nothing to beat the pleasu…moreThe best thing about being a writer – with apologies for what might seem an unhelpful answer! – is writing. For me, there’s nothing to beat the pleasure it brings. And that goes for every part of the process: the excitement of the first tingling of an idea, the initial drafting that spills it all out on paper (or screen), the endless revising and editing that turns it into something worth reading.

It’s hard to explain to a non-initiate how thrilling each of those elements is – imagining something, sketching it out, then knocking it into shape. It’s hard to explain, too, what you’re doing it for. It’s certainly not the satisfaction of sitting back admiring the finished product – however much I’ve loved writing something, and however proud I am of it, I’m itching to get on with the next project as soon as it’s finished, or even before. (I’m not one of those orderly writers who has a decent gap between novels: rather like children, I always have at least two or three on the go, at different stages of development.)

Nor is there one particular stage that makes the rest worthwhile: in fact, each of them have their frustrations as well as their pleasures. When the idea is germinating, there’s the anxiety that you’ll lose sight of the spark that first appealed to you, or that you won’t be able to see it through into anything remotely resembling a novel. When you’re drafting, there’s a sinking feeling that the writing isn’t good enough, or isn’t going in the right direction. And when you’re editing, there’s a niggling sense that what you’re doing isn’t really at all creative, and that anything that takes this much chopping and reshaping is never going to have any sparkle. But somehow the whole process is utterly compelling and irresistible, and I can’t imagine living without it. (less)

flag

like
Comment

See all 6 answers from Rachel Crowther…

Combine Editions
Rachel Crowther’s books

Average rating: 3.8 · 1,041 ratings · 129 reviews · 8 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Parting of the Ways: A moving drama about motherhood, friendship and lies 3.91 avg rating — 490 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The House of Echoes by Rachel Crowther (Goodreads Author), Lucy Rayner (Reading) 4.07 avg rating — 214 ratings — published 2024 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Partridge and the Pelican 3.46 avg rating — 160 ratings — published 2011 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Every Secret Thing: A novel of friendship, betrayal and second chances, for fans of Joanna Trollope and Hilary Boyd 3.22 avg rating — 97 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Things You Do for Love 3.79 avg rating — 76 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Story by Tom Vowler (Goodreads Author), Jo Field, Rachel Crowther (Goodreads Author) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Child Public Health by Mitch Blair, Tony Waterston, Sarah Stewart-Brown really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2003 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Indications of Public Health in the English Regions 3: Lifestyle and Its Impact on Health by Rachel Crowther (Goodreads Author), Alison Hill, Harry Rutter 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Rachel Crowther…

2 posts
Rachel Crowther's Blog

On location

When you arrive in France, one of the first words you see is ‘location’. It seems rather delightfully apt – a reminder that you’ve arrived somewhere more exciting than home – until you realise it means something different in French. Hire. Location de voiture, for example: car hire.

I rather like that double meaning as a metaphor for the way writers use locations. We hire them (or borrow them) for a Read more of this blog post »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on September 14, 2016 01:50

View all 2 posts »

Rachel is Currently Reading

Rachel Crowther is currently reading

I Am Pilgrim

by Terry Hayes

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 14, 2016 01:47AM

Rachel Crowther is currently reading

Nora Webster

by Colm Tóibín

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 14, 2016 01:46AM

Rachel Crowther is currently reading

The Little Red Chairs

by Edna O'Brien

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 14, 2016 01:46AM

rss
Rachel’s Recent Updates

Rachel Crowther liked Lesley's review of The House of Echoes: "I really enjoyed this book. It tells how Mab, Nessa, Con and Philip have different memories of an event from Mab's childhood, which have to be faced for the the characters to move on with life. Rachel Crowther keeps you guessing right to the end of a" Read more of this review »
Dec 09, 2024 12:08PM · see review
Rachel Crowther liked Catherine M's review of The House of Echoes: "Rachel Crowther's House of Echoes was an absolute joy to read, keeping me utterly absorbed and emotionally involved. The plot is brilliant - expect some stunning twists and turns - and the characters so 'real' I feel I know them having just closed th" Read more of this review »
Dec 09, 2024 12:08PM · see review
Rachel Crowther liked Lucy Binney's review of The House of Echoes: "I couldn't put this book down. The narration alternates between two sisters' present lives as adults, and a pivotal summer 20 years earlier when they were children. This structure works really well as we gradually discover how the sisters' childhood " Read more of this review »
Dec 09, 2024 12:08PM · see review
Rachel Crowther liked Libby Reidy's review of The House of Echoes: "Two sisters, Mab and Nessa, are devastated when their mother dies and their father leaves them to set up a new life In New Zealand. Prior to their father's departure, they are left with his previous wife and sons while their mother is in hospital rec" Read more of this review »
Dec 09, 2024 12:08PM · see review
Rachel Crowther has read The House of Echoes by Rachel Crowther (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 10, 2024 03:47PM · like