Louise Nicholas and journalist Philip Kitchin (who investigated the cover-up of Nicholas' rape complaints against police) revisit the book they wrote in 2007 to bring readers up to date with what has happened since.
I interviewed her during her 2007 book tour and remember being impressed by her calmness, tolerance and compassion when she was angrily confronted by John Dewar's son during a Dunedin public meeting (an incident which makes it into the book). Dewar, the police official who handled the complaint she was raped in her Rotorua flat in 1984, was sentenced to a jail term in 2007 on charges of attempting to obstruct or defeat the course of justice. The accused police officers were found not guilty of her rape.
Nicholas could have become bitter and ground down because, as she colourfully puts it, life has thrown her family some ''mongrel bloody curve balls''. Instead, in the past seven years she has used her experience to work to change the way sexual violence victims are dealt with by police and the justice system.
She says the police can take a bow for some of the work they have done, ''but they do have a way to go yet before they get it totally right when it comes to survivors''.
The updated story remains a compelling read, featuring the doggedness of Nicholas and Kitchin as they grapple with setbacks. At times the mechanism of Kitchin and Nicholas taking turns to tell parts of the narrative can be frustrating, but it does not overwhelm the story. They each have a distinctive voice, with the down-to-earth country girl Nicholas sounding much as she does when you meet her.
Photographs are a welcome addition in the new book.
The postscript tells us we are soon likely to see and hear more about the Nicholas story through a two-hour film about her life, directed by former Dunedinite Robert Sarkies, being produced for TVNZ.
- Elspeth McLean is a columnist and former ODT health reporter.
