Catherine Gavin Explained

Catherine Gavin
Honorific Suffix:	DLitt
Birth Date:	13 May 1907
Birth Place:	Aberdeen, Scotland
Death Date:	27 December 1999 (age 92)
Nationality:	Scottish
Occupation:	historian, academic, war correspondent, novelist
Alma Mater:	University of Aberdeen
Workplaces:	University of Aberdeen University of Glasgow Kemsley Newspapers

Catherine Irvine Gavin (13 May 1907 – 27 December 1999) was a Scottish academic historian, war correspondent, and historical novelist.^[1]

Early life

Gavin was born in Aberdeen in 1907,^[2] and studied history and English at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with first-class honours. She completed doctoral work in 1931, with a doctoral thesis on Louis Philippe of France; her thesis was published in 1933.^[3]

Career

Gavin held positions as a history lecturer at Aberdeen and at the University of Glasgow. She stood unsuccessfully as a Unionist candidate in two parliamentary elections in the 1930s.

During World War II, she worked in France and the Netherlands for Kemsley Newspapers. She also wrote a biography of Edward VII, published in 1941. She was a correspondent in the Middle East and Ethiopia after the war, for the Daily Express. After marriage, she worked a few years on the staff of Time magazine in New York. She wrote about her wartime experiences in Liberated France (1955).^[4]

Most of Gavin's literary output was in the genre of historical romance.^[5] "Her characters are attractive flesh-and-blood people, her narrative adventurous and suspenseful, and her use of history skillful and unerring," reported one American reviewer in 1957.^[6] The University of Aberdeen awarded her an honorary DLitt in 1986. The Catherine Gavin Room there is named in her honour. The university has a 1940 portrait of her, in oil, by Elizabeth Mary Watt.^[7]

Gavin appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 24 June 1978.^[8]

Selected works

Gavin's works of historical fiction include the following titles:

• Clyde Valley (1938)^[9]
• The Hostile Shore (1940)
• The Black Milestone (1941)^[10]
• The Mountain of Light (1944)
• Madeleine (1957)^[11]
• The Cactus and the Crown (1962)^{[12] [13]}
• The Fortress (1964)
• The Moon Into Blood (1966)
• The Devil in Harbour (1968)
• The House of War (1970)^[14]
• Give Me the Daggers (1972)^{[15] [16]}
• The Snow Mountain (1973)^[17]
• Traitors' Gate (1976)
• None Dare Call It Treason (1978)^[18]
• How Sleep the Brave (1980)
• The Sunset Dream (1984)^[19]
• A Light Woman (1986)
• A Dawn of Splendour (1989)^[20]
• The French Fortune (1991)^[21]
• One Candle Burning (1996)^[22]

Personal life

In 1948, Gavin married American advertising executive John Ashcraft and moved to the United States with him. She was widowed in 1998, and died in 1999, aged 92.

External links

• Catherine Gavin at Fantastic Fiction.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Catherine Gavin. Alexander. Flora. 1 April 2000. Herald Scotland. 18 August 2014.
2. Book: Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers. 1982-11-11. Macmillan International Higher Education. 978-1-349-06127-3. 289. en.
3. Book: Gavin, Catherine Irvine. Louis Philippe, King of the French. 1933. Methuen & Company Limited. en.
4. Book: Gavin, Catherine Irvine. Liberated France. 1955. Cape. en.
5. News: Gifford. Thomas. 1969-03-23. When Novels Aren't Novel, They're Genre. 99. Star Tribune. 2020-05-17. Newspapers.com.
6. News: Barkham. John. 1957-11-30. Hazards Ride High. 12. Tucson Citizen. 2020-05-17. Newspapers.com.
7. Web site: BBC - Your Paintings - Catherine Gavin. Art UK. 18 August 2014.
8. Web site: Desert Island Discs - Castaway : Dr Catherine Gavin. BBC Online. BBC. 18 August 2014.
9. Book: Finkelstein, David. Edinburgh History of the Book in Scotland, Volume 4: Professionalism and Diversity 1880-2000. 2007-11-23. Edinburgh University Press. 978-0-7486-2884-1. 239–240. en.
10. News: Smith. Janet Adam. 19 July 1942. The Literary Scene in Scotland. BR7. The New York Times. ProQuest.
11. Book: Gavin, Catherine Irvine. Madeleine. 1957. St. Martin's Press. en.
12. Book: Gavin, Catherine. The Cactus and the Crown. 1962. en.
13. News: Alexander. Charles. 1962-03-03. An Old Dream Dies, A New is Born. 6. Albany Democrat-Herald. 2020-05-17. Newspapers.com.
14. Book: Gavin, Catherine. The House of War. 1970. Morrow. 9780671819262. en.
15. Book: Gavin, Catherine. Give Me the Daggers. 2005. Royal National Institute of the Blind. en.
16. News: Harvey. Catherine. 1972-10-22. Catherine Gavin Novel Entertaining. 102. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 2020-05-17. Newspapers.com.
17. Book: Gavin, Catherine Irvine. The Snow Mountain. 1974. Pantheon Books. 978-0-394-49179-0. en.
18. Book: Gavin, Catherine Irvine. None Dare Call it Treason. 1978. St. Martin's Press. 978-0-312-57706-3. en.
19. Book: Gavin, Catherine. The Sunset Dream. 1985. Coronet. 978-0-340-36656-1. en.
20. Book: Gavin, Catherine Irvine. A Dawn of Splendour. 1990. Grafton. 978-0-586-20345-3. en.
21. Book: Gavin, Catherine. The French Fortune. 1991. HarperCollins. 978-0-246-13588-9. en.
22. Book: Gavin, Catherine. One Candle Burning. 1997. HarperCollinsPubl.. 978-0-586-20909-7. en.