Charlotte Roche

Charlotte Elisabeth Grace Roche (born 18 March 1978) is a British-German television presenter, author, producer, and actress. She is best-known for her 2009 novel Wetlands.

Early life

Roche, the daughter of an engineer and a politically- and artistically-active mother, was born in High Wycombe near London and raised in Germany. In 1983, when Roche was five years old, her parents divorced, an event and experience that she later incorporated in her novels Feuchtgebiete (Wetlands) and Schoßgebete (Wrecked). She grew up in the Lower Rhine region, in a family with liberal views. Her primary school was in Niederkrüchten. In 1989, she went to the secondary school, St. Wolfhelm Gymnasium, in the neighbouring town of Schwalmtal. When she was 14 years old, she moved to Mönchengladbach, where she was educated at the Hugo Junkers Gymnasium in Rheydt. She left school after the 11th grade, at the age of 17. She obtained initial stage experience in drama groups during her time at school.

Career

Roche left home in 1993, still aged 17, and formed the garage rock group The Dubinskis with three female friends. The band never released an album, nor recorded any material, nor notably performed anywhere. There followed a period where she undertook anything that would shock and offend people—self-mutilation to paint with blood, drug experiments, or shaving her head. After successfully auditioning for the German music channel VIVA, she worked there for several years as a video jockey and presenter, as well on the sister channel Viva Zwei, where she presented her show Fast Forward.