Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses physical and emotional abuse.

Rachel is the protagonist of River Sing Me Home. As a mother searching for her stolen children, Rachel journeys across land and sea hoping to reunite with them.

Rachel, like many other characters in the novel, speaks in Caribbean creole. Eleanor Shearer does not describe her physical appearance in much detail aside from her being tall, having dark skin and short hair. As a dynamic character whose evolution occurs through her interactions with other people such as Mama B and Mary Grace, Rachel embodies the mother archetype. Rachel is loving and nurturing as well as protective of her children, and Shearer uses Rachel to explore the meaning of love and freedom. Rachel’s own children are not the only ones she mothers. She mothers Nobody and Nuno, recognizing their need to feel nurtured. She also allows herself to be mothered as illustrated by her relationship with Mama B and Mary Grace, characters who often soothe Rachel when she is overwhelmed by the nature of her journey.

Motherhood and motherliness are not Rachel’s sole traits. Rachel is adventurous as noticed by Nobody (186).