Rachel Beanland

Clementine is a high school graduate! We had an incredible weekend celebrating her and watching her say good-bye to the people and places that have shaped her over these last four years. I always tell people that while boarding school isn’t for everyone, it was most definitely for Clementine. She got so much out of her time at Deerfield, and she gave a lot back too. We couldn’t be more proud of her. 💚

My father would have been 75 today. For those of you who have only started following this account recently, he died 16 years ago, of pancreatic cancer, at the age of 58. At the time, I knew he’d been robbed of precious time, but it is only as the passing years slowly accumulate that I realize the full extent of everything he lost. He was smart and funny and weird and totally and completely himself, and I miss him every day. This next novel, THE HALF LIFE, while completely fictional, is the closest I’ve come to writing something meaningful about what it’s been like to lose him, and so without giving too much away, I leave you with this photo of my dad in his submarine days, taken aboard the USS Simon Bolivar, sometime in the early 1980s. ❤️

This is a prom/bday combo post because it took me two weeks to receive all the prom pics! Clementine was a vision (of course), but the big, big news is she is 18 YEARS OLD today!!! I cannot believe it, even a little bit! Clementine, you are such a special person, and your dad and I are so lucky to be your parents. You are gonna light the world on fire with your spark ⚡️ 💚 🎂

It’s giving love triangle 😅

The Half Life is available everywhere July 14 and available now for preorder 🩵