Finola Austin

Finola Austin was born in Gravesend in England to a Northern Irish father and an English/Welsh mother. When she was five, her family moved to the small town of Whitehead in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Finola spent her childhood telling stories to her long-suffering younger sister and reading all the books she could get her hands on. Her high school was Methodist College Belfast, which she chose because it had a drama studio and Latin lessons.Finola returned to England for university and graduated with a BA in Classics & English from Merton College, Oxford, followed by an MSt in English Literature, 1800-1914 from Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Her masters dissertation focused on the works of Victorian sensation novelists Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Wilkie Collins. Her interest in literature continued beyond her academic studies and she founded the Secret Victorianist, an award-winning blog dedicated to nineteenth-century literature and culture. Her first novel, Brontë’s Mistress, was released by Atria Books in August 2020. By day, Finola works in digital advertising. Her professional experience includes positions with public relations firm Hill Knowlton Strategies in London, advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather in New York City, and media company Refinery29, also in New York, where she co-founded R29 Intelligence, Refinery29’s strategy and insights practice. She currently works in Facebook’s Creative Shop, where she consults with brands on their Facebook and Instagram advertising. Finola lives in Brooklyn, with her Siberian cat, Arabella, and too many books. She is working on her next novel.