Whitcoulls Recommends: The Other Catherine and Murder in Paris ’68

The Other Catherine by Lauren Keenan: this is the story of two women bound together through generations of a family, each making their own way in a turbulent world. In 1793, eighteen year old Catherine is sentenced to the colonies and finds herself in the abject misery of the hold of a convict ship sailing to Australia where, despite the horrors and deprivation, she manages to forge enduring bonds with some of the other convicts. Two generations later, another Catherine - known in her native reo as Keita - finds herself and her loved ones caught up in the arrival of sealers and whalers to the shores of Aotearoa, and a profound change to their way of life. History and blood unites these two women, each of whom navigate their way through periods of great change.

Murder in Paris ’68 by Edward Chisholm. Paris in 1968 was a world of chic, celebrity and glamour alongside a parallel underworld in which the demimonde lived dangerous and darker lives. Alain Delon was a movie star of the era - globally famous, he moved in fashionable circles. When a young man was found dead on a road outside Paris it was initially assumed he was indigent, but his clothes and well manicured fingernails told a different story and he was soon linked to Delon. This is extraordinary narrative nonfiction in which politicians, police, diplomats, gangsters, petty criminals and a raft of famous names became caught up in scandal and corruption. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Ab Jody Now is the book manager from whit Colstone McKenzie,
Good morning, Good morning. Tell me about The Other Catherine
by Lauren Keenan.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
Lauren is a local writer and a historian who's done
a variety of books. She did a novel for adults
a couple of years ago called The Space Between which
was set down in Taranaki, which I really enjoyed. And
she also did a terrific book called Toytu Tefenua which
is The Places and People of the New Zealand Wars,
and it's a really comprehensive guidebook to the major sites

(00:44):
of the New Zealand Wars. So this is a local
woman who knows her stuff about our history. And in
her new book, which as you said, is called The
Other Catherine, she writes about two women from historical times
who are bound together by circumstance and eventually by blood,
but each of them in a very different time. So
it begins in seventeen ninety three, I think, when an

(01:06):
eight ten year old woman called Katherine. She's a young
Irish woman and she's sentenced to the colonies and sent
out on a convict ship to Australia, and quite a
lot of the book is about what it's like for
the women in the hold of that convictship sailing out
to New South Wales. Pretty grim and torrid as you
can imagine, but as so often happens with women, when

(01:26):
they're thrust together in terribted, difficult circumstances, they make extraordinary
friendships which endure for a long time. And that's what happened.
When they got to Australia. Catherine kept in touch with
some of the other women, particularly one from the ship,
and it was a really important relationship in her life.
And then two generations later there's another Catherine, but she's

(01:47):
known here in New Zealand in her native Reo. As
Kita finds herself and her loved ones caught up when
the Europeans arrive with the sealers and the whalers and
the modern weapons that they had and impose a really
profound change to their way of life. I thoroughly enjoy
It's got some really good history in it. It's a

(02:09):
story about strong and certainly in the case of Kita,
matriarchal woman and it's a fine piece of writing.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
And these the stories intertwined, even though they do okay, yes, fabulous.
A new book by Edward Chisholm.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yes, Edward Chisholm. Well, as you know, I'm a sucker
for good narrative nonfiction. And at wit Calls, we loved
the book Empire of Pain by Patrick red He's one
of my favorites. And I will just say he's got
a new one coming out this coming week, and.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
We're going to talk to him about it very shortly
on the show at some point in the next month.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
I know I'm very envious. But this one is called
A Murder in Paris sixty eight and Edward Chisholm wrote
a book couple of years ago called A Waiter in
Paris about his time they're working in the restaurant trade,
so Paris is his stomping ground, and he's back there
with this new one, which is a fascinating story. Back

(03:00):
in the sixties there was a very famous Parisian French
film star called Alain Delon, and he was considered to
be the gorgeous man of the moment. And Paris then
was the height of chikh and it was cool and
there was all sorts of great stuff going on, but
he was so cool. He was at the top of

(03:21):
the charts. And when he left France for Hollywood Life
magazine ran a headline which said, Ladies, France exports a devastator,
which I thought was terrific. But he had a much
darker side, and he was well acquainted with the demi
monde of Paris. And one day the police found a
person who'd been beaten up and shot dead in the

(03:41):
side of a road just outside Paris, and they thought
at first that he was indigent, and then when they
discovered that his suit was very good and his nails
were well manicured, they found a trail which led back
to Lane Delonne. They were very good friends, and it's
a riveting story about this guy. His name was Devan Markovitch,
and it became known as the Markovich affair. And he

(04:03):
was a grifter who managed to insinuate his way into
Alandelon's in a circle. And when the police started to
unravel it all there were politicians, celebrities, gangster's blackmail, corruption
at the highest level that you just can't imagine, and
a lot of scandals. So it's a fascinating look at
Paris in a particular time in its history. But also

(04:24):
I will say that the bits about Hollywood that are
chucked in are also very good.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Thank you so much, Joan. So that second book that
Johan has just mentioned is Murder in Paris sixty eight
by Edward Chisholm, And the first book that Joanes spoke
about was The Other Catherine by Lauren Keenan. Thanks so much, Joan.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
See you next week.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen
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