Esther Freud is a British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

, known for her autobiographical novel '' Hideous Kinky'' (1992). She is the daughter of the painter Lucian Freud.

Early life and education

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1963, Freud is the daughter of Bernardine Coverley and painter Lucian Freud. She is also a great-granddaughter of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

and niece of

Clement Freud Sir Clement Raphael Freud (24 April 1924 – 15 April 2009) was a British media personality, broadcaster, writer, politician and chef. The son of Ernst L. Freud and grandson of Sigmund Freud, Clement moved to the United Kingdom from Nazi Germany ...

. She travelled extensively with her mother as a child, returning to London at 16 to train as an actress at The Drama Centre.

Career

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 ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' 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 ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' serial '' Attack of the Cybermen''. Her novels include the semi-autobiographical '' Hideous Kinky'', which was adapted into a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

starring

Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Primarily known for her roles as headstrong and complicated women in independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including an Ac ...

. She is also the author of ''The Wild'', ''Gaglow'', and ''The Sea House''. She also wrote the foreword for '' The Summer Book'' by Tove Jansson. Freud was named as one of the 20 "Best of Young British Novelists" by ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'' magazine in 1993. Her novels have been translated into 13 languages. She is also the co-founder (with Kitty Aldridge) of the women's theatre company Norfolk Broads. 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. As of 2014 Freud taught at the Faber Academy.

Personal life

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. She was married to actor David Morrissey, with whom she has three children. They married in 2006. They had separated by 2020, when Freud began living with a boyfriend. Freud maintains homes in London and Walberswick near Southwold in Suffolk. Freud's maternal grandparents were

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

but her mother was non-observant, while her father's Jewish family were atheists. She identifies as Jewish.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' Hideous Kinky'' (1992) * ''Peerless Flats'' (1993) * ''Gaglow'' (1997) * ''The Wild'' (2000) * ''The Sea House'' (2003) * ''Love Falls'' (2007) * ''Lucky Break'' (2010) * ''Mr Mac and Me'' (2014) * ''I Couldn't Love You More'' (2021) *"My Sister and Other Lovers" (2025)

Short fiction

;Stories

References

External links

* * * (review of ''I couldn't love you more'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Freud, Esther 1963 births Living people 20th-century British women writers 20th-century English novelists 21st-century British women writers 21st-century English novelists Actresses from London British people of German-Jewish descent British women novelists Jewish English writers English people of Irish descent

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

Jewish Austrian writers The New Yorker people Writers from London