Dame Silvia Cartwright has been a trailblazer for women in the fields of law and justice, and she's detailed her life story in a new memoir.

She was one of two women studying law at Otago University in the 1960s, and went on to become New Zealand's first female High Court judge and the second woman to hold the role of Governor-General at a time when the sector was overly male.

She's been on an extraordinary professional journey, which she's detailed in her new memoir That Woman.

"I do remember reading, or at least glancing at a book about Roman law when I was about 14 - but I think it was a process of elimination. In those days , if a woman studied at university, the options were fairly limited to teaching, nursing, or - being Dunedin - medicine."

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Actress and singer Keala Settle was launched into international stardom thanks to her role in The Greatest Showman as the bearded lady, Lettie Lutz.

She sang the film's biggest hit This Is Me, which won a Golden Globe and got an Oscar nomination - and it ensured the Tony-nominated actress became a household name.

Keala Settle spent a lot of time in New Zealand visiting family as she grew up, and she's set to return to our shores for the WITCH musical theatre premiere of Sunset Boulevard at the Wellington Town Hall.

"I'm just excited to go back - and then just forgot that there's this actual job that I had to do. So it could be overwhelming, if I let it be. But I'm just trying to keep my wits about me as much as I can and lean on everyone that's around me."

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The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon. Fiction, based on the real life of Grace O’Malley who lived in the 16th century and gained renown as a fiercely independent woman and a fearless pirate who controlled an army of men, key maritime routes and trade in the west of Ireland. Suffering English rule, she bowed to no one and her story is extraordinary. This is by the author of The Frozen River which is one of my favourite books in recent years.

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley. Readers of Agatha Christie will be familiar with Miss Marple, her village living amateur detective about whom many books were written. Lucy Foley has now produced a new Miss Marple story, authorized by the Christie estate - in which Miss Marple finds herself in a flash hotel high in the Alps where murders occur and of course her sleuthing skills come to the fore. It’s a real homage to the original author, and fans of her work - but also readers discovering them for the first time - will find much to enjoy.

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