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Julia Hamilton was born in 1956 in Dumfries in Scotland. Her father was a hill farmer in Kirkcudbrightshire and she went to school there until she was twelve, adopting a Scots accent during the day so that she wouldn’t stand out amongst her contemporaries. With her elder brother away at boarding school, she was a solitary child who roamed about in the landscape on her own and read a great deal. In some ways it was a lonely upbringing, but in other ways a good preparation for the life of a writer; Julia finds that she returns over and over again in her novels to the landscape she first knew. At the age of twelve, she was sent away south to Benenden School in Kent, where Princess Anne had been, forcing her to adapt to a quite different set of circumstances in an all-girl environment where hardly anyone appeared to even have heard of Kirkcudbrightshire. In her last novel, ‘Other People’s Rules’, Benenden appears under the guise of ‘Wickenden Abbey’ and caused a flurry of letters from readers wondering whether she was describing Cheltenham Ladies’ College or Roedean, a mark of success! Julia did not shine at Benenden and, having hoped to go to Oxford, found herself playing the role of performing monkey as a debutante; it was during her year at Queen Charlotte’s Ball (then held in the Grosvenor House Hotel) that a man streaked naked round the ballroom, causing a good deal of consternation amongst the assembled parents. The girls of course loved it! Julia married young and had had her two daughters by the age of 26. She had always intended to become a writer, a claim people dismissed, and published her first novel ‘The Idle Hill of Summer’ when she was 29. The novel was based on a member of her family who had been killed in the Great War and received excellent reviews. After her divorce in her early thirties from the father of her children, Julia then had several novels published by Penguin before finally moving to Harper Collins who will publish her new book ‘Forbiddem Fruits’ in June of this year. Set in Edinburgh’s New Town, the novel revolves around the powerful Macarthur Clan whose code of silence is about to be broken, engulfing them in scandal and recrimination. As well as writing and reviewing fiction, Julia has written short stories and will be contributing to the forthcoming anthology ‘Scottish Girls About Town’ to be published next year. Now married to Trevor Mostyn, an author and journalist who specializes in the Middle East, she lives in London’s Notting Hill.
'This phenomenal book blows the doors off the reality of a savage illness that is still, somehow, not taken seriously enough. Two extraordinary writers; mother and daughter, have faced each other with the most frightening thing of all – the truth. The result is a roar of a book, bursting with vivid stories, incredible insights, hard truths and fierce, fierce love. Whether you have the disease yourself or not, this book will change the way you see the world, your mother and yourself.' Phoebe Waller-Bridge ‘A terrific read … Arabella and Julia are taking ownership of their pasts in a way that will provide healing – for themselves, future generations and for readers.’ Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun and The Instant ‘Eloquent, starkly self-scrutinising, and at times even funny […] It has stayed in my mind since the moment I put it down.’ The Telegraph ‘Remarkable…As a stark insight into the disease, In the Blood makes a mark…’The Sunday Times Culture 'This mesmerising do-si-do between mother and daughter will resonate with so many women, drinkers or no. Anyone who has ever fancied a drink will find startlingly apt descriptions, and cause to reflect on their own impulses and dissimulations. This double memoir is a cut above.' Zoe Strimpel 'In The Blood is an essential contribution to our understanding of addiction in all its forms. Unique in its dual perspective, it takes the reader into the heart of experience of how alcoholism and the code of silence has wreaked havoc throughout a family. An extraordinary memoir that is bold and searingly honest.' Lily Dunn, author of Sins of My Father 'Beautifully written and fiercely moving … Equal parts wise, heartbreaking and captivating, this is a remarkable and rare book.’ Alex Larman 'Bold and honest, this book puts children of alcoholics on the map.' Calum Best, Patron of the charity NACOA
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