Friday, June 23

A Kiwi friend recommended an author, Anne Perry, to Marilyn and commented that she 'had a past'.  Anne Perry has written over 70 best-selling books but it turns out that, as a 15 year old girl she was found guilty of murder and spent years in gaol.  A quick look at Google and the whole story unfolds.  Better still, it a appears there is a movie about the whole incident, called Heavenly Creatures and directed by Peter Jackson.

The movie is certainly worth watching.  It tells the story of Juliet Hulme, a teenage girl from England who arrives in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1952 and is enrolled at the local Girls' high School.  Juliet is played by Kate Winslet in her debut role.  Juliet befriends Pauline, a local girl and together they plot to kill Pauline's mother.

The girls are found guilty and thrown in gaol.  Five years later, Juliet is released and moves to South Africa to live with family.  Eventually, she changes her name, moves to a small fishing village in Scotland becomes a Mormon and begins writing books.  

When the movie is released in 1994, a New Zealand journalist spills the beans and Ms Perry's secret is revealed.  Wikipedia says she was 'very upset'.  Notwithstanding all of the above, Marilyn and I are enjoying the books.  Marilyn is reading a series based on a Victorian policeman called Thomas Pitt, and my series is about another Victorian policeman called William Monk.  Between them, there are 56 books so we could be reading them for some time.