Beginner’s Pluck: Historian and writer Juliana Adelman
Juliana Adelman: As a child she wanted to be a ballerina but then became interested in a career in science.
As a child, Juliana wanted to be a ballerina.
“And I loved to draw,” she says.
At college, having toyed with Fine Art, English, and History, Juliana settled on Biology.
“My Dad was a doctor, and my mum trained in science. I enjoyed it,” she says.
Afterwards, she worked in a lab — but wasn’t sure if the job was for her, so she went to Vietnam on a research project into typhoid fever and met Martin, who is now her husband, following him to Ireland.
“And then I became interested in 19th century science,” she says.
Finishing her PhD in 2007, she spent three years at Trinity College Dublin doing a post-doc, and she wrote a historical non-fiction book, about human/animal relationships.
“I became fascinated by a butcher who was constantly writing letters complaining about things, but grew frustrated with what you can’t find out, and threw that frustration into fiction.
“Fiction is a different process, but there’s a freedom; academic writing is painstakingly slow.”
1977/ Boston, Massachusetts.
Stamford University, BSc in Biological Science: Dublin City University, MSc in Science Communication. Galway University, PhD in History.
Glasnevin, Dublin.
Husband, Martin; Aidan 17, and Cian, 12. Two cats, Tammy and Tango.
Assistant Professor of History at Dublin City University.
“I’m really envious of people who are able to sing.”
Pat Barker; Tim O’Brien; Toni Morrison; Kevin Barry; Maggie O’Farrell; Lauren Groff; Deborah Levy.
“It’s a retelling of Sheridan Le Fanu’s , and is set in the modern age. I’ve written quite a lot of it.”
“Finish every project.”
www.julianaadelman.com
@adelmanjuliana
The Grateful Water
It’s the hot summer of 1866, and a butcher finds a dead baby in the Liffey.
It’s a suspected infanticide, and determined to find the murderer and impress his superiors, Detective Peakin is soon hot on the trail.
But everything is not as it seems, and everyone has something to hide. Will he be able to solve the crime?
This wonderful atmospheric debut brings 19th-century Dublin and its people to life. I loved it.
