Rachel Beanland Author Talk

Meet Rachel Beanland author of The House is on Fire, the story of the Richmond Theater Fire of 1811. She will talk about the research behind her story of the fire told from the perspectives of four very different characters. Stone Soup books will be on hand to sell copies of the books that can be signed by the author.  

Rachel Beanland is the author of two novels, The House Is On Fire (Simon & Schuster, 2023) and Florence Adler Swims Forever (Simon & Schuster, 2020).

The House Is On Fire, which came out in April, was selected as an Indie Next pick by the American Booksellers Association, a ‘GMA Buzz Pick’ by Good Morning America, a “most anticipated” book by the Washington Post, and one of the best books of 2023 by NPR and The New Yorker.

Beanland attended the University of South Carolina and earned her MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University. She lives in Richmond, Virginia where she is the 2023-24 Writer-in-Residence at University of Richmond.