Jillian Medoff is the acclaimed author of six novels. Praised for “uncannily insightful takes on the dark side of family institutions” (Entertainment Weekly), she writes about loyalty, power, secrecy, and moral compromise, questions at the center of THE LIFE OR DEATH COMMITTEE, forthcoming from HarperCollins in January 2027.

Her most recent novel, WHEN WE WERE BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL (Harper 2022), was longlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library Prize, a Book of the Month Club feature selection, an Apple Books Best of the Month, an Audible Editor’s Pick, a PEOPLE Pick of the Week, and a favorite of Town and Country, Oprah Daily, and others.

Earlier novels include THIS COULD HURT (Indiebound bestseller), I COULDN’T LOVE YOU MORE (national bestseller), and GOOD GIRLS GONE BAD (big flop). HUNGER POINT, her debut, was made into an original Lifetime movie starring Christina Hendricks and Barbara Hershey, directed by Joan Micklin Silver.

A former fellow at MacDowell, Blue Mountain Center, VCCA and Fundacion Valparaiso in Spain, Jillian has a BA from Barnard and an MFA from NYU. She studied with Mona Simpson, Jonathan Dee, Alice Walker, and B. J. Chute; and took master classes with Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, and Grace Paley. None of these writers remember her. 

In 1995, Jillian sold her MFA thesis to HarperCollins where it was retitled HUNGER POINT and published in February 1997. Back then readers loved the deeply depressed Frannie; now, they hate her and her whole stupid, self-absorbed family. Times change, culture evolves; still, trauma endures.

In addition to writing novels, Jillian has a long career in communications consulting. She’s a vice president and senior consultant at Segal Benz, a division of the Segal Group.