Esther Freud | |
|---|---|
 Freud in 2008 | |
| Born | 1963 (ages 61-62) London, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Father | Lucian Freud |
| Family | Freud |
Esther Freud (born 1963) is a British novelist, known for her autobiographical novel Hideous Kinky (1992). She is the daughter of the painter Lucian Freud.
Born in London in 1963, [1] Freud is the daughter of Bernardine Coverley and painter Lucian Freud. She is also a great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and niece of Clement Freud.[ citation needed ]
She travelled extensively with her mother as a child, returning to London at 16 to train as an actress at The Drama Centre.[ citation needed ]
She has worked in television and theatre as both actress and writer. Her first credited television appearance was as a terrified diner in The Bill in 1984, running frantically out of a Chinese restaurant after it had received a bomb scare. A year later, she appeared as an alien in the Doctor Who serial Attack of the Cybermen . [2] Her novels include the semi-autobiographical Hideous Kinky , which was adapted into a film starring Kate Winslet.[ citation needed ]
She is also the author of The Wild, Gaglow, and The Sea House. [3] She also wrote the foreword for The Summer Book by Tove Jansson.[ citation needed ]
Freud was named as one of the 20 "Best of Young British Novelists" by Granta magazine in 1993. [3] Her novels have been translated into 13 languages. [3] She is also the co-founder (with Kitty Aldridge) of the women's theatre company Norfolk Broads.[ citation needed ]
In 2009, she donated the short story Rice Cakes and Starbucks to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the 'Water' collection. [4] As of 2014, Freud taught at the Faber Academy.
Freud was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2019. [5]
Freud has a sister, fashion designer Bella Freud, and a half-brother, Noah Woodman. Her uncle was politician Sir Clement Freud. She has two cousins in the media industry; public relations executive Matthew and broadcaster Emma.[ citation needed ]
She was married to actor David Morrissey, with whom she has three children. They married in 2006. [6] They had separated by 2020, when Freud began living with a boyfriend. [7] Freud maintains[ when? ] homes in London and Walberswick near Southwold in Suffolk.[ citation needed ]
Freud's maternal grandparents were Catholics but her mother was non-observant, while her father's Jewish family were atheists. She identifies as Jewish. [8] [9] [10]
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| Title | Year | First published | Reprinted/collected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desire | 2021 | Freud, Esther (27 September 2021). "Desire". The New Yorker. 97 (30): 72–78. | ||
