Catherine Heath (17 November 1924 – 27 October 1991) was a British

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

. An obituary in ''The Daily Telegraph'' called her work "gentle and witty, full of cool observations about human behaviour."

Biography

Heath was born Catherine Hirsch in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

, the daughter of Dutch immigrants Samuel and Anna de Boer Hirsch. She was educated at Henda County School then

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it remained a women's college until 200 ...

, where she studied English under Helen Gardner. In 1948, she married Denis Heath; they were divorced in 1980. Also in 1948, she became an assistant lecturer in the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

. Her novels ''stone Walls'' and ''The Vulture'' received positive reviews from critics.

Works

*''Stone Walls'' (1973) *''The Vulture'' (1974) *''Joseph and the Goths'' (1975) *''Lady on the Burning Deck'' (1978) *'' Behaving Badly'' (1984)

References

1924 births 1991 deaths English women novelists Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford Academics of the University of Wales People from Hendon 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English novelists {{England-novelist-stub