Kate Horan (’94)

Kate Horan (’94) has just published her first novel, The Inheritance, a gripping family intrigue currently gracing Dymock's Bestsellers list.

After graduating from Loreto Kirribilli, Kate briefly studied Architecture before switching to English Literature. She completed an Honours degree and then worked as an English teacher for five years before ‘jumping ship’ to the corporate world as a communication consultant.

It was only recently that Kate decided to “have a crack” at being a writer. “In 2020 I did the Faber writing a novel course,” Kate recounts, “which was great. And then I had the idea for The Inheritance. It felt like a bit of a zeitgeisty kind of idea to me.”

Fellow author and ex-student Cassie Hamer (’93) enthuses, “The Inheritance is full of all the things I love in a novel - family secrets, small-town intrigue, and rich people behaving badly. I ripped through it faster than you can say the words 'DNA test'.”

Kate is now working on the edits for her second book and is still slightly bemused by her success. “The thought that this time next year I'll have two books out is … crazy!”

Kate credits her education at Loreto Kirribilli for instilling her love of literature. “I've got vivid memories of my English teachers at Loreto. I was fortunate enough to have some absolutely brilliant teachers. I think being a good writer depends on being a good reader, and my love of reading was fostered really strongly by those amazing English teachers that I had."