Ella Berman
Author Interview - Ella Berman
Author of Before We Were Innocent
BEFORE WE WERE INNOCENT is a coming-of-age novel with a dark twist about three girls, their summer abroad in Greece that ends with a murder, the ensuing media frenzy, and what happens 10 years later when one of the women is involved in another incident under the media microscope. Split into dual timelines, BEFORE WE WERE INNOCENT (Berkley Hardcover Original; April 4, 2023) follows Joni, Bess, and Evangeline as they embark on their European adventure and the tense days leading up to the murder, and ten years later catches up with Joni and Bess as they find themselves tangled into an eerily similar incident.
Author Interview - Ella Berman
Author I draw inspiration from: I find inspiration in almost anything I read but my current favorites include Meg Mason, Stephanie Danler and Jacqueline Woodson. Danler and Woodson are both so lyrical (almost poetic) in their prose, and Mason’s writing is both funny and gutting – all things I aspire to.
Author Interview - Ella Berman | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: In a sun spot (rare in London) on my sofa, with my dog curled up in my lap and a coffee in my free hand.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Jacaranda from Eve Babitz’s Sex and Rage. It would be the closest I’d get to hanging out with Eve herself (the only person I’d ever choose to be stuck in an elevator with!).
Author Interview - Ella Berman | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: I’ve known I wanted to write for as long as I can remember – I told my sister’s best friend I was going to be an author when I met her, aged four.
The last book I read: The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris – I loved it.
Author Interview - Ella Berman | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: On my computer. I’ve never had the best handwriting and my hand can’t keep up with my brain. I’m also a fairly scatty thinker so knowing I can go back and revise/restructure everything I’ve written is super important.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Martha from Meg Mason’s Sorrow and Bliss. Parts of her relationship with her sister, Ingrid, reminded me of my relationship with my sister so I think we could be an excellent foursome!
Author Interview - Ella Berman | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: Behavioral psychologist
Favorite decade in fashion history: It has to be the 70s but the early-noughties will always have a y2k-shaped place in my heart.
Place I’d most like to travel: Cuba, or back to Morocco.
My signature drink: Fresh ginger tea.
Favorite artist: A very hard question to answer but I’ll go with Edward Hopper today…Unless this is a music question, then Haim.
Number one on my bucket list: Can I do top three? Write a screenplay that gets made, start a publishing house, move to Hawaii.
Anything else you'd like to add: Thank you for having me! x
Find more from the author:
Author Bio: Ella Berman grew up in both London and Los Angeles and worked at Sony Music before starting the clothing brand London Loves LA. She lives in London with her husband, James, and their dog, Rocky. She is the author of two novels: The Comeback and Before We Were Innocent.
