Rachel León

Rachel León is a writer, editor, and social worker, who has worked in child welfare for nearly two decades. She serves as Managing Director for Chicago Review of Books, and is the author of the novel, How We See the Gray.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I think my title does quite a bit of work: it brings in the Greek chorus so before even opening the novel, the “we’ is immediately present for the reader. And while the novel deals with the foster care system, it’s more about seeing the gray. What does it mean to see the gray?, you might be wondering. Well, to me, it’s understanding that we can only know so much about another person (and yet as a society, we’re so prone to judge). How We See the Gray is about how we’re all complicated and messy, so we should show each other grace and kindness.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

My teenage self would be very surprised by my novel! I honestly didn’t even know about foster care when I was in high school, so to learn adult me wrote an entire novel about that system would be mind blowing. But also, the novel takes a lot of risks in terms of form and narrative, which would be surprising. Plus, as a teenager I was convinced I’d be a visual artist, so my teenage self would also be confused why I wasn’t painting and wrote a novel instead!

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I rewrote the beginning multiple times, but the ending has more or less stayed the same, so I’d have to say beginnings are harder. Finding the best way into the story was difficult, even (especially?) after knowing the ending.

I knew from the start I wanted the ending to carry the heart and hope that (to me) defines my experience working in foster care. People hear “foster care” and assume it’s all depressing, but what characterizes my experience more is this feeling of my heart expanding as I see how much love exists in this world, how strong and good people can be. That’s what I wanted to leave readers with. Getting them there was tougher.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

On the surface, Meredith, the novel’s main character (a young foster care caseworker who is a single parent) and I have the most in common, or at least did: I too began working in child welfare as a single parent of a preschooler and also drank to cope with the stress of the job. Like Meredith, I’ve always felt the weight of this work and have had a strong desire to do my best for the families I serve. And like Meredith, I also have the common traits found in adult children of alcoholics. However, our personalities are very different. I don’t see myself in the character at all, though we share similar circumstances.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

Music for sure. I included the lyrics to La Historia’s album Low Mimetic throughout the book because that album feels to me like the soundtrack to the novel. A few readers have seen parallels to The Wire, which I’ve admittedly only seen one season of, yet I understand the comparison.

More than anything, my work in child welfare and my coworkers have influenced my writing. Both the work and the people I do it with have helped shape me into who I am and shape how I see the world, which is what I brought to the page.

Visit Rachel León's website.

--Marshal Zeringue