All the June Saturday afternoon Sam Pollit's children were on the lookout for him as they skated round the dirt sidewalks and seamed old asphalt of R Street and Reservoir Road...

Sam and Henny Pollit have too many children, too little money and too much loathing for each other. As Sam uses the children's adoration to feed his own voracious ego, Henny becomes a geyser of rage against her improvident husband. And, caught in the midst of it all, is Louisa, Sam's watchful eleven-year-old daughter.

Christina Stead (1902-1983) was born in Sydney but lived for most of her life outside Australia. She wrote fifteen novels and several volumes of short stories. Her most famous novel, The Man Who Loved Children (1940) is also published by Apollo.