Literature
Catherine Marshall’s books
Discover the stories that shaped a life and moved countless readers across generations.
New Release
No Longer Needed
In “No Longer Needed”, Catherine meets a handsome, charismatic man at a disco, quits her job, travels with him through Mexico, then helps him start a business. What could go wrong?
For a young, ambitious feminist, the 1970s were not the good old days. Recently graduated from college and newly divorced, Catherine moves from the Midwest to the San Francisco Bay Area hoping to launch a new life. She believes she could climb the ladder to success if she works and studies hard, but she finds herself stuck in a boring, dead-end job as a bank teller. Finding a man who understands and supports her ambition seems impossible.
When she meets a charming man at a disco, she’s intrigued, then hooked. Itching for adventure, she quits her job and takes off with him to visit his family in Mazatlán and travel across Mexico. With little money, they camp and stay in budget hotels along the way. During the trip, Catherine struggles with chronic illness while trying to adapt to the culture and understand the profound poverty she encounters. Clashes with her tradition-bound boyfriend cause her to question their future together. But Ramón dreams of starting a landscape business and the idea sparks an entrepreneurial streak Catherine didn’t know she had.
No Longer Needed explores gender roles in a patriarchal marriage, the challenges of a husband and wife building a business together, and the devastating impact of domestic violence. In No Longer Needed, mistakes are made, red flags ignored, and hard lessons learned.
Earlier works
Additional Books by Catherine M. Marshall
Ms. Marshall has written a riveting book that details her travails adopting two children. Social Services numerous omissions of information, changes of biological parents rights, and failure to support the adoptive family’s needs set the stage for a scary story that, unfortunately, is not fiction but reads like it is.
June Mikkelsen, LMFTAs a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in adoption, I believe Ms. Marshall’s book is unique but, unfortunately, the story of her adoption experience is not. The country’s adoption policy is broken, wreaking havoc on many adoptive families. My kudus go to Ms. Marshall for her relentless determination to defend her new family.
Bill Baker, Former Foster ParentCatherine Marshall’s openhearted and honest account of foster parent adoption is the first authentic report of the truth behind our broken foster care system, which fails young children most in need of parenting. Catherine tells her own story of the doubts, risks, and hopes that go into adoption of troubled foster children, and the morning-after realization of taking on so much more than she ever imagined. Her fair-minded report of her fight for her children’s future somehow comforts my wife Annie and me in our frustration and grief at this system that stripped our foster daughter of her best chance for a good life.
The Easter Moose
One Family’s Journey Adopting Through Foster Care
Catherine Marshall’s story reveals the heartbreak and hope of foster parenting.
Thirty-eight and newly married, Catherine yearned to be a mother and adoption seemed a viable option. The county’s Foster-Adopt Program was affordable, so she and her new husband were confident they could adopt and parent two siblings.
But nothing was as it seemed. The birth parents used intimidation and the court system to sabotage the adoption. The social services agency wavered in its support. Even the children, three-year old Jenny and six-year old Robert, were unaware of the ticking time bomb of genetics and early neglect that would detonate in their teens.
Would the family survive intact? Would the marriage withstand the stress? Would the children overcome the same mental illnesses and addictions that had plagued their birth parents?
The Easter Moose: One Family’s Journey Adopting through Foster Care provides all parents, but particularly those adopting, fostering, or caring for mentally ill children, the assurance they are not alone. Social workers, teachers, people who work in the family court system, and anyone who believes in nurture over nature will get a reality check.
You can find Catherine’s titles at the Gallery Bookshop.
Support Local!
Kim Pate,Catherine Marshall’s knowledge of coalition building comes from many years of “on the ground” experience. Catherine has a unique ability to understand and guide behavior, in the complex organizational structures of coalitions, toward unity around a common agenda and good results. This book is an essential “how to” manual for those engaged in the challenging but rewarding work of creating effective social movements.
Vice President for External Relations of CFED
Karen Barsell,Catherine Marshall worked with the United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra in 2009. She helped us craft a plan, guided our committees, provided thoughtful and relevant recommendations, and facilitated our general meetings. Her extensive knowledge of asset building and her expertise in developing coalitions accelerated our ability to launch the Financial Stability Partnership for our region. Today the Partnership moves forward thanks to her guidance. We are very grateful for her assistance and highly recommend her and her book.
CEO and President, United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra
Field Building
Your Blueprint for Creating an Effective and Powerful Social Movement
Whether you are trying to improve your neighborhood, start a state association or eradicate world hunger, this book can help you get organized. Catherine Marshall takes the complex tasks associated with launching and building a social movement and provides the step by step guidance that ensures your effort takes root. This book also contains real life examples and resource information that will provide guidance as you grow your movement. If you are currently working with a collaborative effort and you find it is losing momentum this book can help you analyze what is missing and fix the problem.
This book will provide guidance on how to:
- Determine if a field building effort is needed
- Convene and build a network of supporters
- Make the case for support
- Develop infrastructure so the work gets done
- Use peer learning to develop the practitioners of the field
- Fund the movement
- Launch an advocacy effort
- Build in accountability measurements
You can find Catherine’s titles at the Gallery Bookshop.
Support Local!