Join BookBrowse today and get access to free books, our twice monthly digital magazine, and more.

Cate Quinn biography

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author

Cate Quinn

Cate Quinn

Cate Quinn Biography

Cate (Catherine) Quinne was a travel and lifestyle journalist for The Times, The Guardian and The Mirror, alongside many magazines. Prior to journalism and fiction, her background in historic research won prestigious postgraduate funding from the British Art Council.

Combining research skills with far-flung travel experiences helped her delve into different communities and worlds to create page-turning thrillers in interesting locations. She is currently a novelist both as an independent author and with Amazon publishing. Her novels have sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide.

Cate is based in Brighton, England.

Cate Quinn's website

This bio was last updated on 11/23/2020. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Interview

Cate Quinn discussed her US debut, the thriller Black Widows.

What was your starting point for Black Widows? What did you draw on as you developed the story?

The idea just came to me, and with it, all three characters appeared as if by magic. Once it was there, I just couldn't stop writing. It was like a book that couldn't wait to be written. I wrote a lot from Rachel's perspective but always bookmarked by what the other wives might think or feel about the same given moment. There's probably a whole other book edited out; I wrote so much.

Those women felt so real that it felt very natural to draw them out. I also did a lot of research on the LDS faith and in particular more fundamental branches.

How does Black Widows compare to your other books? Did you have to change your writing process at all?

It's a very different book. The structure is entirely new. Other books I've written have been thrillers with a very linear plot, so this one, which bounced around characters, represented a completely new process for me.

Rachel, Emily, and Tina are all very distinct. Did you have a favorite while you were writing? Which was the most challenging?

I love them all, and I think they're probably subconsciously all parts of my character. I'd probably like to identify with Tina the most, but in real ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Books by this Author

Books by Cate Quinn at BookBrowse
Black Widows jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more


Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Table for Two
    Table for Two
    by Amor Towles
    Amor Towles's short story collection Table for Two reads as something of a dream compilation for...
  • Book Jacket: Bitter Crop
    Bitter Crop
    by Paul Alexander
    In 1958, Billie Holiday began work on an ambitious album called Lady in Satin. Accompanied by a full...
  • Book Jacket: Under This Red Rock
    Under This Red Rock
    by Mindy McGinnis
    Since she was a child, Neely has suffered from auditory hallucinations, hearing voices that demand ...
  • Book Jacket: Clear
    Clear
    by Carys Davies
    John Ferguson is a principled man. But when, in 1843, those principles drive him to break from the ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Only the Beautiful
by Susan Meissner
A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the terrible injustice that tears them apart.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Flower Sisters
    by Michelle Collins Anderson

    From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.

  • Book Jacket

    The House on Biscayne Bay
    by Chanel Cleeton

    As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.

Win This Book
Win The Funeral Cryer

The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu

Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

M as A H

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.