30 ratings | 5 reviews | avg rating:4.90

Rachel Howard’s Followers (27)

Rachel’s Bookshelves

to-read (1)
currently-reading (1)
read (33)

Rachel’s Friends (167)

Andrew Clark

278 books | 545 friends

Marianna Petrovich

568 books | 67 friends

James Wade

365 books | 1,332 friends

Michele

29,998 books | 5,119 friends

Deanna

2,818 books | 96 friends

Leigh Lucas

1,317 books | 758 friends

Laura Joakimson

3,331 books | 684 friends

A.H. Kim

436 books | 158 friends

More friends…

Rachel Howard

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.rachelhoward.com

Twitter

rachelahoward

Genre

Fiction, Memoir

Member Since

January 2008

edit data

Rachel Howard is a writer of fiction, personal essays, memoir, and dance criticism. Her debut novel, The Risk of Us, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt April 2019, and is garnering strong advance praise. Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation, calls it "An emotionally complex and amazingly suspenseful novel about love and fear." Belle Boggs, author of The Art of Waiting, says: "Rachel Howard has given us a portrait of family-building and attachment that is at once beautiful and painful, serious and funny, page-turning and insightful. I was deeply moved by this novel, a powerful reminder of the risks we take on whenever we love anyone."

Rachel’s first book was a memoir about her father's unsolved murder, The Lost Night. She ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Rachel Howard questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Rachel Howard My husband and I adopted a child out of the foster care system, so I was in the foster care world, and the tensions inherent to it fascinated me. I th…moreMy husband and I adopted a child out of the foster care system, so I was in the foster care world, and the tensions inherent to it fascinated me. I thought maybe I could bring the reader inside those tensions, not merely summarize them or editorialize about them. Then I saw a brochure put out by a foster services agency advertising for “Families that take risks.” I thought, That’s a strange thing to advertise for. It seemed to me the brochure was basically saying, Yeah, you need to be a little crazy to try this. In what other context would anyone say a child needs parents that take risks?

I kept going with the idea because I realized I had seen memoirs about adoption—mostly about adopting babies from overseas—and I had seen novels about foster children, but always from the foster child’s point of view. And there’s good reason for that—the foster child is the most innocent and vulnerable person in the situation. But I thought if I could write a novel from the foster parent’s point of view, it could create a triangulated space for the reader to inhabit this particular kind of adoption experience in a new way. In foster care, all the players—foster parents, social workers, psychologists—are doing their best, really, even though when you’re looking at the system from the outside the impulse is to judge all the people involved for being selfish or falling short. They’re all doing their best, but we’re talking about an inherently very difficult situation. And that’s more important than ever to remember as our country continues separating children from families at the borders—no one should be blithe about routing children to foster care. And the number of children in foster care is growing every year.
(less)

flag

1 like · like
Comment

See 1 answer from Rachel Howard…

Combine Editions
Rachel Howard’s books

Average rating: 3.69 · 754 ratings · 124 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Risk of Us 3.67 avg rating — 576 ratings — published 2019 — 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
	The Lost Night: A Daughter's Search for the Truth of Her Father's Murder 3.75 avg rating — 178 ratings — published 2005 — 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

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

32 posts
Rachel Howard's Blog

“auiga” by gizeh muniz vengel

Review of “auiga,” by gizeh muniz vengel in collaboration with Ernesto Peart Falcon and grisel gg torres at CounterPulse. Fjord Review. June 2024.

View more on Rachel Howard's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 20, 2024 16:02

View all 32 posts »

Rachel is Currently Reading

Rachel Howard is currently reading

Things I Want Back From You

by Elizabeth Stix (Goodreads Author)

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

Rachel Howard said: " Full disclosure, I have loved the hilarious stories in this collection since they started appearing in magazines. Ms. Stix has a wildly funny imagination. At the same time, these stories are deeply rooted in an understanding of the kinds of neuroses ...more "

Jun 16, 2024 10:42AM · see review

rss
Rachel’s Recent Updates

Rachel Howard wrote a new blog post San Francisco Ballet “Midsummer Night’s Dream” Opening Night Review of San Francisco Ballet in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” March 2024. SF Chronicle.
Jul 08, 2024 05:29AM · like
Rachel Howard rated a book it was amazing Things I Want Back From You by Elizabeth Stix (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
Full disclosure, I have loved the hilarious stories in this collection since they started appearing in magazines. Ms. Stix has a wildly funny imagination. At the same time, these stories are deeply rooted in an understanding of the kinds of neuroses ...more
Jun 16, 2024 10:39AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Things I Want Back From You by Elizabeth Stix. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Things I Want Back From You by Elizabeth Stix <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

More of Rachel's books…

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Aussie Readers: Sharon's Reading "MOJO" Continues in 2019	34	36	Dec 06, 2019 02:49AM
Tall, Dark & Deadly: What are you reading in 2019?	447	92	Dec 31, 2019 02:07PM
Aussie Readers: Share Your Reviews (and Thoughts) Here - 2019	3102	328	Dec 31, 2019 06:58PM
Aussie Lovers of...: Currently reading/Just finished! CLOSED	7094	739	Dec 31, 2019 07:03PM
Fiction Fanatics: 2019 reads	1653	171	Jan 09, 2020 11:13PM
Coffee & Books: * What are you reading?	3246	820	Oct 14, 2025 02:55PM