 She grew up on a farm in Hunterville, Rangitikei and began writing while still at school, freelancing for the "Taranaki Daily News".She won a scholarship to the University of Canterbury and moved to Christchurch, where she also worked as a part-time reporter for "The Press" newspaper while studying.While in Christchurch, she met and became friends with the artist Rita Angus, who painted her and her first child in a portrait entitled "Mother and Child" in 1945.