Joyce West

Joyce Tarlton West was a New Zealand novelist and children's writer. Born in Auckland, she spent her childhood in remote country districts where her parents taught in Māori schools. Of herself she wrote: “We lived far from towns, in a world of bush roads and river crossings; we rode horseback everywhere, and kept a large menagerie of dogs, cats, kittens, ducks, turkeys, pet lambs, and goats.. .. When I began to write, it was with the wish that I might save a little of the charm and flavour of those times and places for the children of today.”