Christina Stead (1902-1983) writer, was born and educated in Sydney and spent most of her working life - from 1928 until 1974 - living in Europe and the United States. Her first book The Salzburg Tales was followed by Seven Poor Men of Sydney which was based on observations from her early life. Her best known work is The Man Who Loved Children (1940) widely regarded as a twentieth-century classic, an autobiographical study of a family dominated by a monstrous father.