Her works are characterized by moral clarity, sincere intonation and based on her real life experience, including participation in the war as a source of inspiration for her writings.

After the USSR was attacked by Germany in June 1941, 17-year-old Julia joined the Red Cross, trained as a nurse and began volunteering at a local hospital.

Later that summer, as the German army approached Moscow, she was dispatched to help build fortifications near Mozhaisk, about 100 km to the West of the capital.

She did not want to leave Moscow and agreed to evacuate only because of her ailing father, who had suffered a stroke at the beginning of the War.

After recovering, she returned to Moscow where she applied to the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute but was denied admission, her writing having been deemed not mature enough.

She married her classmate and fellow war veteran Nikolai Starshinov in 1944 and gave birth to her only daughter, Elena, in 1946.

The family lived in a communal apartment in extreme poverty in post-war Moscow, while Julia continued to write.