Strong Winds : Pebble

About Julia Jones

Julia Jones as a child, steering Peter Duck, the boat bought from Arthur Ramsome that inspired his classic Swallows and Amazons.

When Julia Jones was three years old her parents bought Peter Duck, Arthur Ransome’s former yacht. Julia slept in the place that had been designed for Ransome to store his typewriter and it wasn’t long before she was reading her way through the Swallows and Amazons series. Boats and books have been part of her life ever since. As an adult she founded and ran a village bookshop and developed a local publishing list for older readers. She became close friends with Joyce Allingham, sister of Essex detective novelist Margery Allingham, and has written and edited three biographical works connected with the Allingham family with the fourth, Fifty Years in the Fiction Factory, scheduled for publication in 2012. The Salt-Stained Book was her first novel for younger readers and is also enjoyed by adults. Followed up by A Ravelled Flag, the Strong Winds trilogy is concluded with Ghosting Home, out in July 2012. Julia has five children and lives in Essex and Suffolk with her partner, Francis Wheen. In 1999 they re-purchased Peter Duck.

CLICK HERE to read an article by Julia Jones, which was inspired in part by Arthur Ransome’s sailing adventures and in particular by Peter Duck, the boat which she was brought up on and which had previously been owned by Arthur Ransome.