She is known for writing, alongside her husband Thomas Davis, the 1960 novel Makutu, thought to be "perhaps the first novel by South Pacific Island writers.
[2][3][4][5] She studied law at the University of Otago for a period, then trained as a nurse at Dunedin Hospital.
[6] In 1940, she married Thomas Davis, a medical student at the time, in a secret ceremony due to her wealthy parents' disapproval.
[10][11] She moved with Thomas to his native Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands, where she wrote for various newspapers and magazines in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
[6][9][13] Davis co-wrote with her husband the autobiographical Doctor to the Islands, documenting their experiences during Thomas's career as a medical officer, which was published in 1955 and later adapted into a program for the BBC.