Julie Brill
Author Interview - Julie Brill
Author of Hidden in Plain Sight
Discover a powerful, untold chapter of Holocaust history and a daughter's enduring quest to know the story that began a generation before her birth. From childhood, Julie Brill struggled to understand how her father survived as a young Jewish boy in Belgrade, where Nazis murdered 90 percent of the Jewish population without gas chambers or cattle cars. Through exacting research, a bit of luck, and three emotional trips to Serbia, she pieces together her family's lost past, unearths secrets, and returns to her father a small part of what the Nazis stole: his own family history.
Author Interview - Julie Brill
Author I draw inspiration from:
Dani Shapiro
Author Interview - Julie Brill | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
I have read many books on my couch with my Golden Retriever lying on my feet or outside on my deck. But because I also love audiobooks, I listen everywhere including while walking the dog and driving.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Elizabeth Gilbert, the character, in the memoir Eat, Pray, Love could make the time fly in that elevator. I think it would actually be fun.
Author Interview - Julie Brill | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I grew up hearing stories and being read to and then bringing a book everywhere with me once I learned to read. I’d keep a book in my desk at school for the spare moment to turn a few pages. That made me want to write from a young age. My first writing gig was in middle school. I reviewed young adult books for the local paper. I wrote them out and my mom typed them up and delivered them to my editor.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Paperback for carrying around and sprawling in the margins. I’m very visual so I like to see the words on the page. Ebook for the instant gratification of being able to download and go. Audiobook for the joy of being read to, especially by the author, and for being able to multitask. Hardcover for library books that support so many readers.
The last book I read:
The Cost of Free Land by Rebecca Clarren is a great read about a part of American history, Jewish immigrants on the Western frontier, that I knew nothing about. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawson pulled me in because I live in New England and I’m fascinated by early New England history and the main character is a midwife. I’m drawn to all things birth and am a doula, childbirth educator, and lactation consultant. Both of these books are well researched and well written.
Author Interview - Julie Brill | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Laptop for being able to speed write during the initial thought dump and then for ease of editing and editing some more which is the part that feels like work. I like a notebook for carrying around and jotting down thoughts as they come to me. I like to see them in my handwriting on the page and writing by hand helps me remember things. I can find them easier later because they’re in a physical location, and not just somewhere on my screen as I scroll down.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Children’s books have so many best friend characters. I’d hang out with the child or adult version of Laura Ingalls, Pippi Longstocking and Charlotte and Gertie from the All of the Kind Family series.
Author Interview - Julie Brill | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
My day job is having my own lactation private practice. I love helping people feed their babies. It compliments writing well because I control my schedule and it gets me off my computer and out into the world.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
1960’s for comfortable clothing and a chance to let your creativity shine
Place I’d most like to travel:
I’m currently very interested in Scotland and New Zealand. I like trips that get me out and moving in gorgeous nature.
My signature drink:
A hot chai latte.
Favorite artist:
My all-time favorite painting is John Singer Sargent’s The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit. My grandmother had a copy in her home, and I was so drawn to it as a child. The original hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and it’s so much larger and more mesmerizing that even now, I feel like I could look at it for hours.
Number one on my bucket list:
In 2025, I’m very focused on helping Hidden in Plain Sight: A Family Memoir and the Untold Story of the Holocaust in Serbia out into the world. I wrote it so people would know about the Jews of Serbia, and I feel I’ve only just begun to share that story. I’d love to see it translated into other languages especially Serbo-Croatian.
Find more from the author:
Find me at juliebrill.com and follow me on Instagram @juliesbrill
About Julie Brill:
Author Interview - Julie Brill
Julie Brill is the author of Hidden in Plain Sight: A Family Memoir and the Untold Story of the Holocaust in Serbia. She has been collecting family stories since she was a little girl. She is a lactation consultant, childbirth educator, doula, and the author of the anthology Round the Circle: Doulas Share Their Experiences. Her essays have appeared in various publications, including Haaretz, the Forward, Balkan Insight, Kveller, Cognoscenti, and Hey Alma. She shares her family’s experiences in the Shoah with middle and high school students through Living Links. The mother of two grown daughters, Julie lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
Visit www.juliebrill.com and follow her on Instagram @juliesbrill.
