Catherine Robertson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Catherine Robertson (1966–) is a fiction writer with a background in advertising. She grew up in Wellington and lives there now, having also spent time living in San Francisco and the United Kingdom.
Her first novel was published in 2011. A romantic comedy set in London, The Sweet Second Life of Darrell Kincaid is the story of a romance novelist in search of her own happy ending in a new city. It is the first of Robertson’s 'Imperfect Lives' trilogy.
Reviews of the novel were favourable, and Kerre Woodham even declared ‘She’s way better than Marian Keyes.’ Paul Little (North & South, October 2011) wrote, ‘Robertson’s book will be hailed as a splendid piece of chick-lit, which is unfair because that label will deter many who would enjoy what is a well-written, thoroughly entertaining read.’
Reviewer Stephanie Jones wrote: ‘Once in a while I happen upon a book that is so mood-lifting, so stonkingly readable and plain fun, that I finish it feeling the urge to surreptitiously drop copies everywhere I go… Robertson is a new national treasure.’ (Easy Mix Book Reviews, September 2011).
Robertson's second novel was published in 2012, The Not So Perfect Life of Mo Lawrence (Random House NZ). The novel traces the life of Michelle Lawrence, the best friend of Darrell, who was the heroine of The Sweet Second Life of Darrell Kincaid. Both books have been translated into German.
Robertson was selected to represent New Zealand at the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair.
The last instalment in the Imperfect Lives series, The Misplaced Affections of Charlotte Fforbes (Random House NZ), was published in 2013.
Robertson released the short story ‘May Day’ (Penguin) in 2015. It is a story about making your own decisions. A free version is available for Kindle users on her website.
The Hiding Places, Robertson's fourth novel, was published by Penguin Random House NZ in April 2015. Landfall said of the novel: “The writing is assured and insistent, but also surprising and shrewd, often funny…the plot is cleverly manipulated.”
The Hiding Places won the Nelson Public Libraries Award for NZ Fiction in October 2015. It will be published in France in 2017.
In 2015 she completed a MA in Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University.
Her fiction piece ‘Married’ was published in Turbine (IIML) 2015.
Her essay ‘Mother M’ was published in Sport 44 (VUP) in 2016.
Catherine contributes to several publications as well, frequently reviewing contemporary fiction for the NZ Listener, and being a guest on Radio NZ’s The Panel. She has also participated in the Auckland Writers Festival, Writers on Monday and Wellington Writers Week as speaker and/or chair. She is also currently the Chair for the New Zealand Society of Authors Wellington Branch.
In 2016 Catherine received a grant from Creative New Zealand towards researching a memoir/biography. The work will explore her late mother’s teenage years in a cult-like organisation Moral Rearmament (MRA) and the effects on both their lives.
MEDIA LINKS AND CLIPS
- Catherine Robertson's website
- Catherine Robertson's facebook
- Robertson's Good Morning TV review
- Radio NZ Nine to Noon review by Sonja de Friez of The Sweet Second Life of Darrell Kincaid
- A review of The Sweet Second Life of Darrell Kincaid in Otago Daily Times
- Interview with Catherine Roberston by The Dominon Post
- NZ Booksellers review of The Hiding Places
- NZ Booksellers review of The Not So Perfect Life of Mo Lawrence
- Radio NZ review of The Misplaced Affections of Charlotte Fforbes
