In this powerful story by Patrick White middle-class, status-obsessed parents wake to their worst nightmare… their daughter in torn clothing, sobbing about having just been raped at knife point by a night prowler. Their immediate focus is on the shame and consequences of the girl losing her virginity, rather than her psychological well-being. Shocked by their superficiality, the daughter calls off her engagement to an up-and-coming diplomat and subsequently rebels against her sterile life by stalking the streets and becoming a night prowler herself. Themes include social appearances, superficiality, repression, rejection of victimhood, empowerment, alienation, connection.
