Who is Holly Devane from the novel, Actress?

Holly is a graduate student who is writing her doctoral thesis on Katherine. Her focus is Katherine's sexuality and how she styled her femininity. Holly's underlying assumption appears to be that Katherine's sexual orientation went beyond the bounds of heteronormativity. Holly's meeting with Norah, where she tries to dig for the truths that she is looking for, turns out to be a catalyst for Norah. Norah feels that Holly, like everyone else in Katherine's life, is only trying to manipulate Katherine's story to fit the way they want to present it. This spurs Norah to present Katherine's life in the way that Norah herself feels is the most authentic.