Beginner’s Pluck: Julia Forster

A prolific reader, Julia didn’t start to read like a writer until she was 15, and read Jane Eyre. She took an MA in creative writing, but concentrated on poetry. It wasn’t until the end of the course that she had an idea for a novel.

It was set in New York and Venice, so, having worked to raise the money, she set off for America and Italy, where she fell in love, and ran out of money.

“But the novel didn’t work. It was my first taste of failure,” she says