Phyllis Brett Young

Artist Julia Warner left life in the big city to avoid reminders of her little sister’s disappearance. Now teaching in a smalltown public school, memories of that tragedy flood back when one of her young students, Deborah Hurst, is assaulted. Not six months later, a second student is assaulted and killed—but this time, Julia gets a fleeting look at the perpetrator. Greg Malcolm, the doctor treating Deborah, wants to work with Julia in brining the murderer to justice, but the art teacher has plans of her own. First published in 1962 under the pseudonym “Kendal Young,” The Ravine was the author’s only thriller. It was adapted for the screen and released as Assault (1971), starring Suzy Kendall.

A child who is the centre of her parents' life, is torn away in the darkness from her comfortable urban home and left to grow up in the barren hills of northern mining country. Over time, recognizing that she has outgrown the kindly but uneducated couple who raise her, she begins a relationship with an artist who initiates her into the wider world and adulthood. Psyche is the gripping story of a mother's undying faith in her child's survival and the child's remarkable resilience as she embarks on a dramatic journey of self-discovery through art, education, and interaction with a varied cast of colourful characters. This 1959 international bestseller focuses on issues of character and environment in an unconventional coming-of-age story that draws the reader into an exploration of still decidedly modern themes: the search for biological roots and identity, and the question of what most influences that identity - nature or nurture?

First published in 1960, the classic feminist novel about a desperate housewife.