True North

by Catherine Deveny

Memoir

Genres: Memoir, Biography

275 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2022

About the author

Catherine Deveny is the author of The Happiness Show (2012), Free To A Good Home (2009), Say When (2008) and It’s Not My Fault They Print Them (2007).

Catherine is a television comedy writer, comedian, author, social commentator and broadcaster well known for her work as columnist with the Age newspaper and as an ABC regular. She cites her biggest influences as Bill Hicks, Richard Dawkins, Billy Bragg and Alice Miller. Deveny’s television work includes Network Seven’s Tonight Live with Steve Vizard, Full Frontal, ABC TV’s Good News Week, BackBerner and Q&A, Network 10’s Rove Live, The Wedge, skitHOUSE and The 7pm Project.

She performs regularly on radio and television and is a popular fill in broadcaster on 774 ABC Melbourne. Deveny has written for the Logie Awards, the Aria Music Awards and co-wrote the 2005 AFI Awards with Russell Crowe.

Reviews

[Deb Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars from me. I really enjoyed this memoir more than I expected. It's really well written (tho some typos annoying) and full of really interesting perspectives and insights. Tender. That was unexpected. Not soppy sentimentalism and not always brutal. A glimpse into hiw someone ticks. Easy to read as well. Recommend

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely devoured this book in one sitting. Catherine's memoir is beautiful, enlightening and full of evocative Melbourne scenes. Major life moments are told with raw honesty and with kindness from someone who's come through the other side. To read True North is to spend quality time in Catherine's company - and what excellent company it is. Highly recommended.

[Andrea Hurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Catherine's memoir is a mix of her experience surviving the break up of her long term relationship and navigating your own childhood family experience. Proving that even well adjusted and civil breakups take their toll on all involved, True North plots the path of changing your life in order to find new beginnings. It also focuses on how our lives are shaped and informed by our parents own experience and views of the world. In this case, how you revolt and buck the trend of living the small, simple life experienced by your own mother. Parts of this book were sheer beauty. Describing the generations who came before you as part of the relay race, passing the baton to the next generation in the hope their life is happier. Better. Everyone simply doing the best they can. Other sections, trying to paint the scene of suburbs and childhood memories, felt like a long list of 'things'. On a weird note, I was at the same Rocktober gig in 1994, but my shady memory couldn't remember the complete line up or where it was!

The book is about relationships. Those with our family, growing up. Our friends and partners. It speaks of embracing all the feels and not allowing external pressure to live a life less lived. I had two odd moments reading this book. I used the same words to break up with my ex ('I'm not happy') and to describe the feeling when I met my husband (he felt like 'home'). It was quite a strange experience, and made me reflect on my own choices and decisions.

The book ends with the death of her mother. Exploring the process many of us have yet to face. How you can find peace with someone you've had a complex relationship with, because perhaps death lets you free from the baggage of your childhood.

If you've lived in the inner north of Melbourne, you'll smile knowingly at descriptions of people and suburbs. I love the north, and really enjoyed spending time with Devs through her book.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious, tear making and intensely thought provoking memoir. I didn’t want to put it down and equally didn’t want for the storytelling to end, I loved this so.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seem to be on a memoir binge at the moment - with the characters blurring into each other. The essence of trying and forgiving self are the main themes I am taking away with my experience.

[Elizabeth McMahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Have always enjoyed Catherine’s writing and while have found her views challenging at times, have appreciated her logic and perspective. This book was beautiful, funny and very moving. So much of what she wrote about her upbringing felt very familiar to me - maybe it was the Melbourne landmarks that made it so - but Catherine questions things that I let slip by and I admire her for that. Grateful to have Catherine’s writing in my life whether it be a memoir, her column in The Age which I read religiously or a controversial tweet!! I highly recommend True North.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Made it to page 192 & quickly skimmed the last pages.

I did not like this book. It started at chapter 2 when Deveny claimed she could remember a memory from when she was 2! Yup, sure. Also, the memory of "passionately " kissing boys in 2nd grade & being totally & utterly aroused!! An adult level of arousal, wet, heart thumping, light headed. Who would even remember that? Bollocks.

A lot of unnecessary waffle about the interior of the arts centre, wading in the ocean, the food in the hospital when she had her appendix out, Daniel Mannix, amongst other ramblings that made me switch off. Seriously, getting pawed by the boss in the stairwell and not thinking much of it?

This book was irritating. I do not know how it has such high reviews. The parts I read didn't even really delve into the seventeen year relationship that had ended. I mean, I can see why it probably did. This woman comes across as totally unhinged. Disappointing read.

[Danielle Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf’. Catherine Deveny delivers these and other life lessons in great big gulps of honesty and reality. This vivid memoir, cocooned in bittersweet memories of 70’s, 80’s & 90’s Melbourne with so many similarities to my own life held me in its thrall from beginning to end. It’s a whopping great dose of Vitamin Dev. We all know she’s an outgoing, funny, straight-talking sharp shooter (famous for her fabulous Gunnas Writing Groups) who’s ‘spent her entire life singing for her supper’. But guess what, this girl can actually write!

[Kristine Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been struggling to read anything over the past couple of years for a host of reasons, but I am so glad that this is the book that brought me back. It is unflinchingly honest and it inspired me to be more truthful with myself about my own life, particularly my feelings towards myself, my family and my experiences. The fact that Catherine's story also winds it's way through all the beautiful, imperfect nooks of Melbourne is an added bonus. Wrap yourself up in a cozy blanket and read this as the weather gets cooler. You'll feel warmer and calmer than you have in a long while.

[Donna Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

True North was a top read! I thought I was in for stories based around the suburbs I rattled around in my 20s and 30s – and yes, you do get that. What I didn't expect were some fabulous life lessons on resilience, mental health, centering and negotiating through the rough times, family dynamics, relationship fledgings and endings. Told with sincerity and with all the sharp wit and insightfulness I loved from reading her column on the back page of the front section of The Age sitting around our North Fitzroy kitchen table. A real legend of the true north!

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars.
I love Dev and I find her a really inspiring person; writer, comedian, woman. She lives her life so authentically and doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. This book is a brilliant testament to that.

She is sharing a pretty large part of her story here and I learned a lot from her life, growing up poor and suffocated by religion and suburbia. Breaking up and falling in love. Parenting three young boys. Losing parents.

Sometimes the writing is a little circle back-y, sometimes you’ll see a typo, but hey! The writing is sweet, funny and raw.

[Ali W · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars for me. I loved the seeing the Melbourne I knew and aspects of the life I'd lived through Catherine's eyes. She's brave and funny and her writing is evocative and honest. I read a review that noted she approaches her story with compassion simply because she got through it all. I agree and, when stuck in the fury, it's good to know that the light and gentle days are still out there.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book you'll consume at a comfortable canter. The penultimate pages where Deveny describes her mother's passing were poignant.

[Bernie O'Kane]

A very readable account of a very busy life. Catherine joins a bunch of women how have been writing about growing up in Melbourne in the last two decades of the 20th Century. Catherine's story is one of early poverty and gradual finding her place in the world. She grew up in an Irish-Catholic family in working class Preston in Northern Melbourne. She began working in hospitality in her early teens, studied, married young and lived a fully life. She tells her story with a lovely balance of reflection and humour. She interposes her early life with the process of marriage breakdown and beyond.

This is a true account of yet another smart woman's fight for a place in a man's world but it is bright, positive and enjoyable account of this struggle. Catherine clearly likes people and enjoys being who she is. She has recorded her version of society at a time of transition. This will be an important primary source of history in years to come. Don't get me wrong, it is funny and very entertaining first and foremost.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this memoir. My partner bought it for me for Christmas. I was underwhelmed because I’m a fiction junkie. But we were stuck at home with two small kids, with COVID, in the outer suburbs, and I found this book such a balm. So beautifully written, familiar (as a Melburnian) and inspiring in its absolute zest, humour, passion, exaction. This book did my spirit the world of good. Catherine Deveny is this warm, luminous, courageous force. We are so lucky to have her in the world, just being who she is and offering what she does. As someone who has admired Catherine’s work and presence in Australian public life for many many years- most of my adult life- I thought I knew enough about her, and that subsequently this book may be uninteresting to me. I was so wrong. To read her own words about her own life, not in response to anything, but purely for the purpose of storytelling and speaking her truth, was powerful. I recommend it highly.

[Talia Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

GLORIOUS! I have given copies to four people so far, it blew me away how uplifting and affirming it was, and outrageously charming - Child Catherine is the most delightfully plucky and endearing of characters, like a determined little Pollyanna / Anne / Laura Ingles but with more grit and perspicacity. Even though my personal relationships have been quite different to Catherine's, I still gained a lot of wisdom from reading about her path, and found the history of her family / the history of a community of Melbourne with which I've had minimal experience (Catholic northern suburbs families) fascinating to read about. I think there is something here for everyone, regardless of background or life situation, I suspect most people would get a lot from this book.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

True North: A memoir. Its hands down one of the best descriptions of what growing up in a "closed minded, small town, religious" family is like. Having had similar experiences, page after page I was transported back home, umming and ahahing each page.

Catherine has been on an incredible journey through life, one which makes a lot of people bitter, twisted and jaded but she chooses to live life to the fullest. Making each moment count, interwoven throughout the book, revisiting scenes and flowing back to later in life - it's calming and healing like sitting on the beach watching the tide roll in and out.

I am inspired by how Catherine lives her life, it makes me want to live a fuller, bigger and better life than ever before. What else can I say but, read it, you won't regret it!

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s hard to articulate the power of this book, but I’ll try. Catherine Deveny feels like an old friend as you read her words, and you can imagine the two of you kicking back together talking about how terribly hard and cruel parts of life are, but then how wonderfully good it all is at its core. True North tells us Dev’s story: but it also tells us our own — how love is messy and complicated and beautiful and essential; how children are a part of our lives but not all of it; how parking garages should be banned and bikes should be free for all. Dev’s language leapt off the pages and has wedged into my psyche — whether purposely or not, she’s created a blueprint for wanting better, and not accepting less.

[SS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened as audiobook

This is a memoir of Catherine Deveny's life growing up through the 1970s and 1980s in Australia. Children were raised independently, for better or worse, and many kids just go on with it.

The timeline in this book chops and changes and focuses on events that shaped Catherine's independence and capacity to make informed decisions for herself.

Children, partners, divorce, siblings and parents that Catherine is disappointed in feature in this book.

People that grew up in the same era as Catherine will likely enjoy this book, and Aussies will appreciate the Caucasian Australian experience.

[Robyn Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catherine's memoir is written in a deeply reflective way that provides not only insight in to her own experience, but also that of being human, a daughter, sister, friend, partner, parent. I enjoyed the heartfelt stories of her childhood in Melbourne. Born in the same year I could relate to many of the vignettes and scenes of the 70's and 80's, and all the glorious detail Catherine includes - the music, the clothes, scents and sounds, the excitement of starting working and earning money (and for Catherine her celebrated Fuck-Off status) - it was a wildly entertaining read - uputdownable!

[Giovanna Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoughtful and frank memoir. I admit I'm not an absolute fan of Deveny, and I don't agree with everything she says, and don't get some of her comedy - but that's ok. I admire her for being so open and honest. I also enjoyed her reflections on growing up, in the same era as mine and with many of the same 'issues'. The writing is very good, engaging, thought provoking, challenging.

[Lyn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read from this author. I did not know of her celebrity status before. The story was engaging enough and how she handled each life change was admirable. The down side for me was, in my opinion, the unnecessary and overused bad language. I found it irritating and at times crude.

[Wendy Marchment · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully narrated. I really enjoyed this audiobook. Whilst I grew up in country NSW, many of the descriptions of childhood and adolescence resonated with me. The description of panel vans particularly brought a smile to my face. I also have a complex relationship with my mum, and the final chapter was very moving. Highly recommended.

[Wendy Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite book, however I did go on to finish it. For some reason it took most of the book for me to warm to Catherine. Won’t be reading any of her fiction, I don’t think, but quite glad I finished this memoir.

I give it 3.7

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this overnight in one go felt like over-indulging in a tableful of tapas...chowing down on the variety, the colours, the familiar and the unexpected, I wanted to keep going even when I'd consumed everything, and licked all the dishes clean.

[Jennifer Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A colourful and witty memoir. Growing up in the same era as the author, I found so many relatable topics and concepts. I loved the use of Aussie jargon throughout, the raw honesty and 'meeting' the people she values.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Difficult to read in parts as this more accurately described my experience of growing up in the 70’s/80’s than anything else I have read to date. Loved it x

[Stephanie Wescott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. It’s vulnerable and wise. Deveny’s eye is so sharp. It’s a really profound memoir.

[Beto]

I like her story and her commitment to her true self and loved reading about the descriptions of Melbourne.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and candid.