Judith Rossner (1935-2005) was brought up in New York and in 1954 married Robert Rossner, a teacher and writer; they had a daughter in 1960 and a son in 1965. A brief marriage to Mordecai Persky was followed by a long, happy relationship with the publisher Stanley Leff. The first of her novels came out in 1966; her fourth, Looking for Mr Goodbar (1975) sold 4 million copies, and was filmed with Diane Keaton. Emmeline  (1980), her sixth novel, was based on the tragic fate of a real 13-year-old in nineteenth century Maine, sent to work in a textile mill.