Catherine Gaskin (2 April 1929 – 6 September 2009) was an Irish–Australian

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

ist.

Biography

Gaskin was born in

Dundalk Bay Dundalk Bay () is a large (33 km2), exposed estuary on the east coast of Ireland. The inner bay is shallow, sandy and intertidal, though it slopes into a deeper area 2 km from the transitional water boundary.County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

, Ireland in 1929. When she was only three months old, her parents moved to Australia, settling in Coogee, a suburb of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, where she grew up. Her first novel ''This Other Eden'', was written when she was 15 and published two years later.AustList
/ref> After her second novel, ''With Every Year'', was published, she moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Three best-sellers followed: ''Dust in Sunlight'' (1950), ''All Else is Folly'' (1951), and ''Daughter of the House'' (1952). She completed her best-known work, ''

Sara Dane ''Sara Dane'' is a 1982 Australian television miniseries about a woman transported from England to Australia for a crime she did not commit.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p231 Original novel ...

'', on her 25th birthday in 1954, and it was published in 1955. It sold more than 2 million copies, was translated into a number of other languages, and was made into a television mini-series in Australia in 1982. This novel is loosely based on the life of the Australian convict businesswoman

Mary Reibey Mary Reibey née ''Haydock'' (12 May 177730 May 1855) was an English-born merchant, shipowner and trader who was penal transportation, transported to Australia as a convicts in Australia, convict. After gaining her freedom, she was viewed by he ...

, whose image has appeared on the Australian $20 note since 1994. Other novels included ''A Falcon for a Queen'' (1972) and ''The Summer of the Spanish Woman'' (1977). Gaskin moved to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

for ten years, after marrying a United States citizen. She then moved to the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

, then in 1967 to Ireland, where she became an Irish citizen. She also lived on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. Her last novel was ''The Charmed Circle'' (1988). She then returned to Sydney, where she died in September 2009, aged 80, from

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

Selected works

Novels

* ''This Other Eden'' (1947) * ''With Every Year'' (1948) * ''Dust in Sunlight'' (1950) * ''All Else Is Folly'' (1951) * ''Daughter of the House'' (1952) * ''

'' (1954) * ''Blake's Reach'' (1958) * ''Corporation Wife'' (1960) * ''I Know My Love'' (1962) * ''The Tilsit Inheritance'' (1963) * ''The File on Devlin'' (1965) * ''Edge of Glass'' (1967) * ''Fiona'' (1970) * ''A Falcon for a Queen'' (1972) * ''The Property of a Gentleman'' (1974) * ''The Lynmara Legacy'' (1975) * ''The Summer of the Spanish Woma'' (1977) * ''Family Affairs'' (1980) * ''Promises'' (1982) * ''The Ambassador's Women'' (1985) * ''The Charmed Circle'' (1988)

Collections

* ''Selected Works'' (1978)

References and sources

;References ;Sources * Obituary, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', 24 September 2009, p. 25

External links

Gaskin at the Fantastic Fiction website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaskin, Catherine 1929 births 2009 deaths Deaths from ovarian cancer in Australia Deaths from cancer in New South Wales Australian romantic fiction writers Irish emigrants to Australia Irish romantic fiction writers Writers from County Louth Writers from Sydney 20th-century Irish novelists 20th-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian writers Women romantic fiction writers