Veronica Roth is an American writer who came to the limelight after publishing her first book ‘Divergent‘ in college. She was 22 when the book was published by Harper Collins Children’s Book, skyrocketing her to the top of the Young Adult Dystopian novel rankings.

Life Facts

Veronica Roth was born on August 9, 1988, in New York city, New York, USA.
She was raised in Barrington, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Her parents are Barbara Ross and Carl Roth. She has two siblings, a younger brother named Karl and a younger sister named Kathryn.
She attended Barrington High School and later graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in creative writing.
Veronica Roth’s began writing at a young age. She started writing her first novel, ‘Divergent,‘ during her senior year of college as part of a creative writing class project.
‘Divergent,’ Veronica Roth’s debut novel, was published in 2011, and it quickly gained immense popularity, becoming a bestseller.
Roth became a practicing Christian when she got to high school.
Roth got an agent in 2010 when she attended a writer’s conference, and a year later, her book was published.
Veronica Roth is married to photographer Nelson Fitch. They got married in 2011, shortly before the release of ‘Divergent.‘
Roth’s book was adapted into a film and released in 2014
Veronica Roth also wrote books like ‘Carve the Mark‘ (2017) and its sequel ‘The Fates Divide‘ (2018), which marked her foray into the science fiction genre.
She has also written a book for adults, Poster Girl, published in 2022

Interesting Facts

Before achieving fame with the ‘Divergent‘ series, Veronica Roth wrote and self-published stories on online platforms like FictionPress, where she gathered a small following.
During her time at Northwestern University, Roth was a college blogger for the university, where she wrote about her experiences and observations.
Roth’s brief exposure to exposure psychology classes in college inspired the Dauntless Fear simulation landscape.
She collaborated with Sarah Hanley, a comic book writer and artist, on a graphic novel adaptation of her short story ‘Free Four,‘ a graphic novel adaptation of her short story, which retells a scene from ‘Divergent.‘
She is known for her love of tattoos and has several tattoos of her own. Tattoos also play a significant role in the ‘Divergent‘ series as a form of personal expression.
Roth loves religious books and is a practicing Christian who allows her Christian beliefs to be reflected in her books.
She wore black through high school and looked like a rock star because her boyfriend led a heavy rock band.
Roth has been involved in charitable initiatives. She participated in fundraisers and auctions to support causes like education and literacy.

Famous Books by Veronica Roth

‘Insurgent’ –The second book in the ‘Divergent’ series, Tris and Four, tries to save the other factions who Jeanine’s Dauntless soldiers would attack. When Tris and Four get to the Amity house, they are welcomed, but their stay only lasts as Tris and Peter’s fight forces the Amity leaders to shorten their stay.

With the factionless group, Tris and Four discover that Evelyn, Four’s mother they’d all thought was dead, was the leader of the factionless groups.

A series of betrayals and counter-betrayals from Caleb, Peter, and Marcus, and disappointments from Christina and Candor, Tris sacrificing herself for Jeanine to inject a serum into just so Tris could save the factions, sees Tris, Evelyn, Four, and others escape the Jeanine onslaught. But they are shocked when Evelyn reveals a video that shows the origin of the faction and her plans to return the world to a factionless one.

‘Allegiant‘ – The third book in the ‘Divergent‘ series continues the story of Tris Prior, her friends, and a few others who escaped the faction-based society of Chicago and ventured beyond the city’s walls. They discover that their city was an experiment conducted by the government, and the world outside is devastated by war and genetic damage. They join forces with the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, which claims to have solutions to genetic problems.

Tris and Tobias learn that they are genetically damaged Divergents, individuals with multiple dominant personality traits, making them threats to the system. The Bureau’s leader, David, reveals that he plans to use the genetically pure individuals from Chicago to fix the damaged genes of the population outside.

Tris becomes suspicious of David’s intentions and uncovers a hidden truth—the Bureau plans to wipe out the entire population of Chicago using a memory serum to reset their memories. Tris, Tobias, and their friends rebel against the Bureau and stop the memory serum from being released.

In a daring mission, Tris sacrifices to enter the Bureau’s facility and turn off the memory serum. She succeeds but loses her life in the process. Tobias is devastated by her death but is determined to continue fighting for justice.

Early Life and Education

Veronica Roth was born on August 19, 1988, in New York, New York. The second of three siblings, their parents, Barbara Ross and Carl Roth, nurtured an environment that encouraged curiosity and self-expression in the children. When she was just a few years old, her family relocated to Barrington, a suburban town near Chicago, where Roth would spend her childhood years. She loved writing from a young age and was a big fan of Lois Lowry, particularly her book ‘The Giver‘ (1993), a famous dystopian novel for young adults. Roth became a devoted Christian in high school, and this journey often influenced her writing.

Veronica Roth’s father traveled a lot for work during her childhood, causing her mother to feel overburdened by having to care for the three children by herself. This absenteeism led to her parents’ divorce when Veronica Roth was five. Her mother, Barb Ross, a painter, remarried Frank Ross, and the family moved to Illinois, where Roth spent her teenage years.

Early Writing Career

Veronica Roth had been writing since she was as early as 11 years old. Her antisocial behavior saw her spend the best part of her time as a child writing. Her mother was worried about her social skills. When she got to Carleton College, she met a teacher who encouraged her to put her writing into a manuscript. Because the teacher took her seriously, Roth also took herself seriously. She later transferred to Northwestern University, one year at Carleton College, to study creative writing.

The idea for ‘Divergent‘ came in an exposure psychology class while she was at Carleton College. After she completed ‘Divergent‘ in 2010, the year she graduated from college, she gave the book to an agent, and it was published in 2011.

After the economic success of ‘Divergent,‘ Roth wrote two other books in the Divergent series: insurgent and Allegiant, published in 2012 and 2013, respectively. The other books reached the top of the young adult dystopian novel subcategory.

In between the release of the Divergent series, Roth published other novellas such as ‘The Transfer: A Divergent Novella‘ (2013), ‘The Initiate: A Divergent Novella‘ (2014); ‘The Son: A Divergent Novella‘ (2014), and many other short story collections.

In 2014, the film adaptation of ‘Divergent‘ was released in cinemas, with financial success.

Later Life

Veronica Roth is still writing and publishing. She has expanded her reading audience to adults. Chosen Ones and Poster Girls are two of her adult books. She has continued to share her thoughts on politics and power and write books for her growing audience.

Veronica Roth lives in the Chicago area with her husband, photographer Nelson Fitch.

Literature by Veronica Roth

Explore literature by Veronica Roth below, created by the team at Book Analysis.

Divergent

About Veronica Roth

American Novelist

Life Facts

Interesting Facts