Crossing Borders: 21 Inspirational Women Share Their Stories by Julia Gregson (7-Mar-2014) Paperback

by Julia Gregson

From Julia Gregson, bestselling author of East of the Sun , winner of the prestigious Prince Maurice Prize 2010, comes a captivating story, set in the rural landscape of the Wye Valley between England and Wales, of the surprising number of talented women who live there. Each tells their story of life in the country, many with high powered jobs. Fascinating accounts of daily life are brought to life through the photography of Alex Pownall. Featuring 21 women, many with worldwide recognition in their field, Crossing Borders is a truly exceptional series of short stories of talent and achievement.

Unknown Binding

First published March 1, 2014

About the author

My father was in the Air Force, so after thirteen schools I left early longing to travel and have adventures. I worked as a jillaroo in the Australian outback, a girl groom, a shearer’s cook, a secretary, a hospital cleaner, and later, back in England, as a house model for Hardy Amies in London.

In the seventies, and back in Australia again, love of horses led to riding out with Mick Jagger on the set of Ned Kelly and my first published article in The Sydney Morning Herald. Gave up paid employment, poverty and panic followed, but eventually got more work as a journalist. Secretly wrote short stories that were never published. I eventually started to write regularly for Australian magazines. In the seventies, I was sent to Vietnam and India to write stories, and later to New York as a foreign correspondent for a group of Australian magazines (Sungravure) where I also worked for Rolling Stone Magazine.

During this time, spent four days with Muhammad Ali in a boxer’s training camp in Pennsylvania, interviewed Buzz Aldrin in Houston; Ronnie Biggs in a Brazilian jail at midnight; president’s wives, film stars in Hollywood and several notorious criminals. All good grist to my story-writing mill.

I enjoy writing short stories and have published in places like The Literary Review, The Times, Good Housekeeping, and read on the B.B.C.

Orion published my first novel, THE WATER HORSE, in 2005. I rode a horse across Wales to do the research- a wonderful experience- and then went to Istanbul and Scutari where the rest of the novel is set.

Writing EAST OF THE SUN involved two research trips to India, A great highlight. For MONSOON SUMMER, I went to Kerala, and lived with an Indian family, and travelled in a rice boat up many of the back waters I describe.
I’m married, have one daughter and four stepchildren and live in Monmouthshire with two rescue ponies, two chickens and a collie.