Heather Marshall

FROM THE OXFORD COMPANION TO NEW ZEALAND LITERATURE

Marshall, Heather (1927– ), writes novels and young adults’ fiction, mostly about the lives of girls and women set against historical events of New Zealand in her lifetime.

Thus Second-Hand Children (1984) describes growing up during the Depression, A Nest of Cuckoos (1985) narrates a widow’s struggle for independent identity, Secret Diary of a Telephonist (1985) is a satire on business derived from experience in personnel management (1974–84) and Anneliese (1988), probably the most substantial, tells the tragic story of an anorexic girl living through World War 2 in New Zealand, her problems linked with newsreels of Jewish sufferings, the commonplace news of death of men overseas and the complications of American servicemen at home. The novels are all easy reading and have been readily adapted for radio.Her young adult books include Gemma, Brooke and Madeleine (1988), Marie on Her Own (1990) and Picking Up the Pieces (1993), a finalist in the Esther Glen Awards.

Born in Otautau, Southland, Marshall has lived since 1932 in Lower Hutt, where she brought up her family and now lives with cats who have more than once (like the ill-fated Wilfred in Anneliese) appeared in her fiction.

RR

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Death of a Conscience (2002) is described as a dark, psychological drama that will keep you guessing right to the end.