AustLit

'Amy Witting was a master of the short story, the genre in which she felt ‘most at home’. Her subjects—childhood and school, marriage and loneliness, the cruelty of men and women—are rendered in a crisp, understated style, at once compassionate and unsentimental. This new selection of twenty pieces from across five decades includes the acclaimed novella-length ‘The Survivors’ and the final appearance of Isobel Callaghan from I for Isobel.' (Publication summary)

'A wise and compassionate novel set primarily in the staffroom of a girl's school. It tells the story of Josephine, a caring teacher who becomes emotionally involved in the plight of one of her students, Cressida. Cressida is a fragile girl, almost suicidal, and Josephine encourages her to stand up to her mother and take charge of her own destiny. Another student, Cynthia, did take her own life, and the memory of her story hovers over the consciences of the teachers, particularly Josephine. It is Josephine who must work out the fine line between teacher and student, parent and child, between caring and interfering in others' lives; and along the way, she learns some unexpected lessons about love.'

Source: Google Books.

'Isobel Callaghan is struggling to make a career as a writer in Sydney. She is isolated, poor and hungry, and fears she’s going mad. Leaving her room in a boarding house in search of food, she has a breakdown on the way to the corner shop.

'Waking in hospital, Isobel learns that she will be confined to a sanatorium in the Blue Mountains. There, among the motley assortment of patients, and with the aid of great works of literature, she will confront the horrors of her past. But can she find a way to face the future?

'Confronting and compassionate, profound and funny, the second Isobel Callaghan novel is every bit as brilliant as its much-loved predecessor. It confirmed Amy Witting as one of the finest Australian writers of her time.' (Text Classic summary)