Things I DON'T want you to know about me!

Catherine Evans

Catherine Evans

1. There are considerably more than seven things I absolutely DON’T want readers to know about me.



2. I saw my first dead body aged four. I came home from nursery school and my mum asked me what I’d done at school that day. I gave my usual reply: ‘Nothing.’ Then I said, ‘Oh yes. I saw a dead man.’ My mum thought I was joking but I wasn’t. We lived in Swaziland, and the headmaster had arranged for the body of a snakebite victim to be brought in to school for us to have a look at. It was supposed to be an educational experience and a warning to stay away from black mambas. As if we needed telling. We were unimpressed and none of the parents made a fuss.

3. I worked in investment for twenty years. Proving that it’s more important to be lucky than good, I got my first job in finance because I temped for a New-York based brokerage firm in their London offshoot office. They had three salesmen in situ. Within three weeks, one had left and the other two were fired, leaving me twiddling my thumbs in an empty office. The head honchos in the US invited me to New York and gave me some training and unleashed me on to their clients. I loved that job … it made The Wolf of Wall Street look a bit tame.

4. I grew up in the middle of the African bush in the middle of nowhere. My siblings and I had a completely feral childhood, something that can’t be experienced by kids today, which I find incredibly sad. The flipside is we went to boarding school ridiculously early as there were no schools nearby. My shrink says I’ll get over it one day …

 5. I have run four marathons and two ultramarathons: The Marathon des Sables, www.marathondessables.co.uk 150 odd miles in the Sahara Desert, run in six stages over seven days, while carrying all kit, and the Iditasport (now discontinued), 130 miles over 3 days in the wastes of Alaska. The eeriest thing was being alone in the wilderness listening to the wolves howling at night. I remember the organiser saying that the race wasn’t yet famous as no one had died. He sounded rather wistful.

6. When I’m not writing, I like hard physical labour. I don’t mean going to the gym, which I loathe and despise. I mean extreme hiking, or extreme skiing (although this year I suffered extreme injury!). I’ve just been grape picking in Burgundy, which involved a lot of arduous bending and portering under a hot sun, really getting in touch with my inner peasant. I was very disappointed to find that grapes are no longer crushed underfoot.

7. Years ago, a London black cab driver asked me out on a date. I agreed, on the condition that I could drive the cab home. It was late and the roads were empty, but I was astonished that he actually let me do it. I was over the limit and didn’t have a driving licence. Luckily for my husband, we weren’t a match. 

Here is another sneaky little extra from Catherine:

My current writing project has the working title Lifting the Veil. It’s a collection of missing sex scenes from great literature, written in the style of their original authors. What really happened on Dorothea Brooke’s wedding night? Jane Austen’s Emma was a very naughty girl. Readers deserve to know what actually happened behind the scenes at George Knightley’s garden party. And as for that Count of Monte Cristo… he was no better than he should be.

The Book

Catherines latest novel All Grown Up is released 26th September 2023

All Grown Up
All Grown Up

Neveah (pronounced Ner-vay) is fifteen. A school- kid. With a secret life. She’s a digital freelancer, and is having an affair with her biggest client, Giles. Giles is married. He thinks Neveah is twenty-two. She’ll do just about anything to stop him from finding out her true age. But secrets have a way of spilling out. With devastating consequences.

All Grown Up examines the early sexualisation of young girls and toxic masculinity amongst boys, confronting the reader with important questions about consent and underage sex

The Author

Catherine Evans was born in South Africa and grew up in Swaziland and Malawi. After a degree in English Literature and Psychology with UNISA (the University of South Africa), she worked in the City for twenty years. She is currently a Non-Executive Director for Phoenix Copper Limited, which focuses on the exploration of green metals in Idaho, USA.

She lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and daughter. She also has three stepdaughters. She is the author of The Wrong’un. All Grown Up is her second book. 

Our point of view: All Grown Up is a master piece that digs into the important questions about consent, underage sex, and the potentially heart breaking consequenences when the truth comes out. Emotional, devestating - a thoroughly recommended read.

by for www.femalefirst.co.uk
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