I for Isobel is the most famous work of Australian author Amy Witting, the pseudonym by Joan Austral Fraser. Published in 1989, the novel tells the story of Isobel Callaghan. Beginning with an abusive relationship with her mother, Isobel goes on a journey of personal independence and self-knowledge. She eventually decides to accept her love of literature and become a writer. Though a short work, I for Isobel is a coming of age novel, or bildungsroman, that captures a realistic snapshot of everyday life.
It took over a decade for the book to be published. Publishers had initially balked at the manuscript, believing Isobel's relationship with her mother to be overly cruel. But once...
