This is the story of an anxiety-prone young boy growing up in the austerity of post-WW2 Britain, on the beautifully remote Isle of Wight. Of his reluctant migration to Australia at the age of 16 with his parents and siblings, his Australian Foreign Service in Tel Aviv and Hong Kong, and his struggle against the odds to become a successful writer, despite the crippling legacy of anxiety and depression haunting him throughout his life.

In the words of Ian McFarlane, award-winning author, essayist, critic and poet: "....there is not a lot of mystery about the process of writing well, other than an honest capacity for taking great pains, combined with a clarity of vision, a sincere engagement with the imagination, a lifelong love of words and ideas, and a determination to sweat over a blank page."