Born in England in 1917, Gabrielle Day married author John Mulgan shortly before  the War, and came to New Zealand with their son in 1940. She remembers her fist view of Auckland: "The pinky-red roofs made a big impression on me- they are such a different colour from anything I had seen before."

When Mulgan committed suicide, she returned to England, meeting Paul Day on the ship. They later married and came to live in Hamilton, where Paul taught at Hamilton Boys' High School, before joining Balckwood Paul. Later he became head of English at Waikato University. Gabrielle also worked in Paul's Bookshop for five years, before branching into educational book promotion on her own.

 

In 1997 Hamilton City Libraries did an oral history with Paul Day, and with Gabrielle, followed eight years later by a further one with Gabrielle. All these interesting interviews can be listened to on Level 3 of the Central Library.