That Woman by Silvia Cartwright

That Woman is a fascinating account of a life lived at the centre of some of New Zealand’s most consequential legal and social changes. In her memoir, Dame Silvia Cartwright traces her path from being one of only two women studying law at Otago in the 1960s to becoming New Zealand’s first female High Court Judge, Governor-General and an internationally respected jurist.

The title, That Woman comes from the hostility surrounding the 1988 Cartwright Inquiry into the treatment of cervical cancer patients. While many praised the investigation, others dismissed it as a feminist witch-hunt, supporting the professor whose research was found to be harmful and unethical. It’s a reminder of the resistance she faced when challenging powerful institutions. Silvia writes candidly about the everyday indignities of a profession built for men, alongside the bigger battles that shaped women’s healthcare and public life. Yes, she was ignored by male peers and struggled to gain employment as a lawyer paid at the same rate as her male colleagues. She even received a note from a judge instructing her to lengthen her skirts!

However, in addition to the Cartwright Inquiry, which helped transform women’s healthcare, her career highs include her years as a High Court Judge, Governor-General and later, judging war crimes in Cambodia. Not only is That Woman Silvia’s personal account, but it also shows how far women have come, and how far there is still to go.

“This memoir has been a reasonably unvarnished account of my life and career as I have seen them. I always thought — if I thought about it at all — that someone would chronicle my more than 80 years on Earth, but no one has offered so I have had to do it myself. I have always lived looking forward, often with trepidation, to the next phase in my career, but now there is nothing much ahead except another international inquiry, this time about the Uyghur people in China,” she says.

“It has been a wild ride of a life, given the ordinarily calm and dignified legal and judicial career of the average New Zealand judge. If I had to go back, I would not change anything except to spare myself from the often-agonising decisions I felt were forced on me… I wish now that I had accepted the positions which inevitability I ended up in with less angst and more pragmatism. Other women, I hope, will learn from this.”

Reviewer: Andrea Molloy

Allen & Unwin