A stylish reissue of one of Thea Astley's finest early novels In this classic story of small - town life, two schoolteachers are drawn to each other by their concern for a lonely young girl. For as long as Vinny Lalor could remember, she had been on the fringe of things - in her family and at school. But as the final term of the year progresses, rumour and malice mount against Vinny and her two teachers, sweeping them towards scandal and, for one of them, disaster. A Descant for Gossips was Thea Astley's second novel, released in 1960 in England and Australia. In 1983 it was successfully adapted for television by the ABC.