Beginner’s Pluck: London-born Miranda Pountney

'How to Be Somebody Else' is original, clever and compulsive. And the writing is glorious

Miranda Pountney came up with the idea for her debut novel halfway through an MA in Creative Writing course. Picture: Rebecca Reid

Brought up in Somerset, England, where there were more sheep than people, Miranda had a glorious childhood.

“My father, a teacher, was a storyteller and our house was full of books. My mother ran a B&B, so I met kids from all over the world.”

After university, Miranda moved to London and worked in advertising at J Walter Thompson.

“That gave me some elements of creativity and also some certainty and security.”

She stayed in the same job for eight years, but during this time auditioned for drama school.

“Then I was offered the chance to go to New York, which was my absolute dream.”

She stayed there for a decade, before moving back for family reasons without a plan.

She applied for an MA in creative writing, and halfway through the course came up with the idea for her debut.

“In my final term I was taught one-on-one by Tessa Hadley. She passed the 35,000 words I’d written for my MA to the general editor at Jonathan Cape, and I got my deal.

“Then I got my agent, Anna Webber.”

Finishing the novel was painstaking. “I felt incapacitated during lockdown, so I completed it very slowly,” she says.

Who is Miranda Pountney?

Date/ place of birth: 1980/ north London but moved to Somerset at age two.

Education: St Mary’s Shrewsbury; Oxford University, English; University of Bath, MA in Creative Writing.

Home: Stoke Newington, London.

Family: “I’m single.”

The day job: Full-time writer. “But with a few copy writing jobs.”

In another life: "Theatre is my great love, and I would have adored to have been an actor.”

Favourite writers: Virginia Woolf; Maggie Nelson; Sheila Heti; Ottessa Moshfegh; Lydia Davis; Rachel Cusk.

Second book: “It’s in its early stages.”

Top tip: “Read the best writers; keep a notebook, and always be observing.”

The debut

How to Be Somebody Else 

Jonathan Cape, €19.77/ Kindle, €11.00

Walking out of her job in advertising, Dylan housesits for an artist, telling no-one. She embarks on an affair with Gabe, her married neighbour, and throughout the New York spring and summer, experiments and tests boundaries, confusing her friends and boyfriend, Matt. Then she’s forced to confront her future.

The verdict: Original, clever and compulsive. And the writing is glorious.