A child who is the centre of her parents' life, is torn away in the darkness from her comfortable urban home and left to grow up in the barren hills of northern mining country. Over time, recognizing that she has outgrown the kindly but uneducated couple who raise her, she begins a relationship with an artist who initiates her into the wider world and adulthood. Psyche is the gripping story of a mother's undying faith in her child's survival and the child's remarkable resilience as she embarks on a dramatic journey of self-discovery through art, education, and interaction with a varied cast of colourful characters. This 1959 international bestseller focuses on issues of character and environment in an unconventional coming-of-age story that draws the reader into an exploration of still decidedly modern themes: the search for biological roots and identity, and the question of what most influences that identity - nature or nurture?

Phyllis Brett Young (1914-1996) was born, raised and educated in Toronto. She wrote six novels, including Psyche (1959) and The Torontonians (1960), both of which have been republished by McGill-Queen's University Press.

Phyllis Young's profile page

"Psyche is a superbly well-written and compelling novel ... At various turns it is a mystery and a romance novel, utilizing the best conventions of each." Dale Peacock, Muskoka Magazine, September 2009

"A powerful, exciting, and thoroughly moving book." The Globe and Mail, October 31, 1959

"A book that ruthlessly holds the attention of the reader from first to last." Mazo de la Roche, on the jacket of the 1959 hardcover edition