Hi! I’m Rachelle (Ruh-SHELL, she/her). I’m a lifestyle writer, author and editor, focused on style, pop culture and families.
My first book, Women from the Ankle Down: The Story of Shoes and How They Define Us (HarperCollins, 2012) was called “wickedly provocative” by Kirkus, “fleet-footed” by the New York Times, and was named one of Janet Maslin’s top beach reads of Summer 2012.
My second, Brilliance and Fire: A Biography of Diamonds (HarperCollins, 2016) was called “exhilarating” by the Wall Street Journal, and was picked as one of Amazon’s top nonfiction titles of June 2016. It was featured in best-of summer lists at Harper’s Bazaar and The Knot.
These titles have been translated for readers in Eastern and Western Europe, Asia and South America.
My latest book, The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood For All of Us is publishing with Simon & Schuster in July 2024. Inspired by Blume’s longtime fight against book bans, I’m following the current politically charged book banning crisis on my Substack, called Banner Year.
I’ve worked as an editor at Wirecutter and spent five years as a features editor and reporter for the New York Post. Before that, I was a retail contributor at Forbes. My articles and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Racked, Bloomberg View, Slice and others.
I have been interviewed for 99% Invisible, NPR’s Weekend Edition and Marketplace and have appeared on WSJ Lunch Break, Bold TV and Yahoo Finance. In 2012, I traveled the country giving presentations on the topic of women and shoes. I live with my husband and our son in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
I am represented by David Halpern (david@halpernliterary.com) at David Halpern Literary Management. Contact me here or at rachellebergstein@gmail.com.
