Kylie Tennant was born in Manly in 1912. After graduating from the University of Sydney, she married Charles Rodd, a teacher, in 1932. They moved around a great deal following his teaching appointments, which proved a fine ground for inspiration for her novels. Tiburon, first published in 1935, was her first novel, and was followed by eight others, as well as biographies, plays and children’s books, establishing her as one of the finest Australian voices of the twentieth century. Awarded the AO in 1980, she died in 1988.