Julia Levitina designed sets and costumes for Moscow Theatre before immigrating to Australia in 1991 with two children and $200 to her name. She completed a Masters of Theatre Design at the University of Technology Sydney. While teaching set and costume design she wrote short stories, and her short story E-Love was produced by Radio National. The Girl from Moscow is her first novel and was shortlisted for the Australian Society of Authors Commercial Fiction prize for unpublished manuscripts. She lives in Sydney's eastern suburbs with her husband and two children.