The Truth About Julia

This novel is inspired by the fact that ours is the age of terrorism, debates about the reasons for radicalization being ubiquitous, and also by the fact that political idealism is threatened with exhaustion. In its exploration of the eponymous young woman, the novel questions simplistic, mono-causal explanations of radicalization, including individual psychology, parenting styles, religious and cultural values, political disenchantment, economic hardship, and social alienation. Driven by anxieties about the significance of her writing career, and questioning the power of the word to effect political change, the novel’s protagonist (a journalist investigating the reasons behind a terrorist act) becomes disenchanted with the legal forms of political activism – a state of mind which makes her vulnerable to radicalization.