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.
Apart from the main theme, of growing up and choosing a career and a partner, the books are episodic, showing the very real events which can happen when there are sheep to be mustered and shorn, when lambing takes place in floods, and when there are swollen rivers and landslides to be negotiated.
Apart from the problems that any children might experience on their own, such as not knowing how to manage the solid-fuel stove or how to cook, their lives are never in the balance until they are nearly drowned by the rising tide as they cling to rocks to escape a grass fire.
[4] West has been described as the most distinguished author of rural fiction of her time, "delineating children growing to maturity with the warm acceptance of their families and communities".