Cate Cullington

Cate Cullington is the author behind ‘The Stones’ – a debut novel with a wide reach will appeal particularly to readers who like their crime laced with tense family drama and a chilling mystery to solve. Her book tells the story from the perspective of Teresa who is part of the growing ‘sandwich generation’, tasked with looking after her elderly mother whilst also being responsible for her own young child. It follows Teresa’s physical and emotional struggles as she tries to be a good daughter, mother and sister. Will she ever have time for her own life and loves?

Cate is also part of the sandwich generation and she uses her writing to escape from the pressures of her working life in the NHS and the many caring roles she takes on within her own family. Teresa is such a believable character because we all know somebody just like her who is multitasking and working hard to keep everyone else safe – but what happens when something goes wrong and she drops one of the balls that she has been juggling?

Coming from a large family herself, Cate has been able to present the family dynamic in ‘The Stones’ so effectively that the reader feels a real connection to them from the first page. Like all families, there is light and shade, happiness and tragedy, the strong and the weak, and there are family ties that become so stretched that they are weakened – but will they break?

When Cate is not at work, writing or looking after her own family, she can be found walking the dog, playing golf, catching up with her friends or baking and just occasionally she can be found escaping from her own hectic schedule by immersing herself in a very old film for a couple of hours.