Before My Oxford Year was a book or a movie, Whelan was originally hired to work on a screenplay that Burnett had started. However, as she began assisting on the screenplay, Whelan thought the story needed a longer version, so she transitioned from writing a script to writing the novel.

Netflix's new romantic drama My Oxford Year has left viewers crying their eyes out with its emotional final ending, prompting many to ask: Does Jamie die in the book, too? The film, based on Julia Whelan's novel of the same name,