What is the title of your latest release?
ODETTE RISING
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
It’s 1896, and on the outskirts of Paris, Odette Huré watches a funeral bier carry her father’s coffin away. She is twenty-one and has not left the house for ten years. With the sudden death of her father, she discovers that she has inherited his fortune and a factory that makes sublime silk stockings for the Parisian elite. With these responsibilities thrust upon her she is forced into society, naïve and alone. What follows is a dark yet glittering tale in which Odette discovers her father’s secrets, the truth about her own identity and - with the help of an unconventional found family – how to live.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
The setting chose me. I saw the window grille from a demolished French house in the V&A museum in London. It was a stunning piece of Art Nouveau architecture -, a castle on the edge of Paris, commissioned by a woman in 1899. I wanted to know who would want such an extraordinary home and why she needed a castle. In my imagination, the owner of that house became Odette.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
I got to the point wherein I believed Odette was real. She inhabited my mind so fully… I adore her and would love to have dinner with her in Paris.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Curious. Courageous. Unconventional.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
So much about Paris and French society - it’s history and culture during the Belle Epoque
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Both. I always begin by reading what I wrote the day before and giving it a quick polish to get me into the story. But I like to get a rough draft of the whole thing down as soon as possible and then start playing with it.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Gravad lax on dark, nutty rye bread.
Describe your writing space/office!
I have a beautiful Edwardian Potting Shed in my garden in the Cotswolds, England. I sit to write at a vintage desk and look at the bees in the lavender, the birds in the cherry tree and am very happy indeed.
Who is an author you admire?
Just one? Gosh that’s hard. I love Anne Patchett’s storytelling, I like Edith Wharton’s character portraits, I admire Ann Tyler’s sheer skill and effortless prose.
Is there a book that changed your life?
When I was quite young, I hid behind the sofa and read Jonathan Livingstson Seagull. I will never forget the feeling of finding that a book could so fill and overwhelm my emotions and my mind.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Well, I was lucky to have my book go to auction between several publishers. But the moment received the email that Pamela Dorman books (Viking Penguin) had put in the highest bid was pretty memorable. I went a bit numb actually, and looking back I think I was in mild shock. I couldn’t really speak for a little while.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I don’t have one. I read widely across most genres. But am most often seen with a work of commercial/literary fiction in my hand.
What’s your favorite movie?
Cinema Paradiso.
What is your favorite season?
Summer. I love light and so the long days speak to me.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
By cooking a feast and sharing it with my friends and family.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
White Lotus was wickedly louche, dark, disturbing and beautiful.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Oh wow, that’s tough. Depends what mood I’m in. Could be Italian, Spanish or French... but these days, British cooking is pretty fantastic, the best of so many different cuisines.
What do you do when you have free time?
Read, cook ,travel, ride horses.
What can readers expect from you next?
Another surprising female protagonist and a big, raw and heartfelt story.
A mesmerizing coming-of-age story of an extraordinary young woman in turn-of-the-century France as she rises to find a life she’d never dreamed possible
She had always felt that she must stay in the shadows, that if she asked for little, she could not feel loss. But here was life and joy.
It’s 1896 in Sèvres, France and, from her bedroom window, Odette Huré watches a funeral procession carry her father’s coffin away. She is twenty-one and she has not left the house for ten years.
Odette has long spent her days reading and soothing herself with food. With the sudden death of her father, the walls she has built around herself begin to crumble. Forced into society, she discovers she is responsible for her father’s considerable fortune and his celebrated stockings factory—renowned for its exquisite designs that adorn the slender ankles of Parisian femmes célèbres.
Now Odette must try and navigate the world she has hidden from for so long. In doing so, she will excavate the secrets left behind by her father and in turn, accept the shocking truth of her own identity. With the help of an unorthodox found family, she will discover all that she is capable of. Odette is a heroine for the ages—complex and flawed, but compelling and full of warmth—and we share her joy as she begins to soar.
Women's Fiction Friendship [ Pamela Dorman, On Sale: October 13, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780593995518 / eISBN: 9780593995525 ]
Julianne Edwards is a psychotherapist. Having studied at St. Andrew’s and Oxford, she lived and worked in London and around Europe and the USA. She now lives with her family and animals in a small hamlet in the Cotswolds and can mostly be found in her shed. Odette Rising is her debut novel.
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