Janet Frame

An Angel at My Table by Janet Frame is a poignant and compelling autobiography that traces the extraordinary journey of one of New Zealand's most acclaimed authors. The narrative begins with her enchanting childhood, unfolding the wonders and curiosities of her early years. As Frame grows, she faces the dark and harrowing experiences of being misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, resulting in...

So the day promised fair, and the sea lay like a quilt with the waves tucked under, and the trees wavering like leafless water, cut to fit from a transparent block of blue air and frost. Owls Do Cry tells the story of the Withers family - Francie, who is twelve and about to start work at the woollen mills,...

The Edge of the Alphabet by Janet Frame is a poignant exploration of identity, alienation, and the quest for meaning. The novel opens with Toby Withers, a young man with epilepsy, who finds himself adrift after the death of his mother. Determined to start anew, he departs from New Zealand, embarking on a ship bound for England. Onboard, he encounters...

In the Memorial Room is a brilliant black comedy by the celebrated author of An Angel at My Table. Harry Gill, a moderately successful writer of historical fiction, has been awarded the annual Watercress-Armstrong Fellowship—a 'living memorial' to the poet Margaret Rose Hurndell. He arrives in the French Riviera town of Menton, where Hurndell once lived and worked, to write....

Magical powers inhabit the land to which Malfred Signal retires — freed at last of her responsibilities to a dying mother and the generations of young ladies who have learned perfect drawing techniques in her classes. Her first night in the idyllic island retreat that is to be her new home is one of terror: a storm is raging, an...

Janet Frame's luminous words are the more precious because they were snatched from the jaws of the disaster of her early life. It is one of the classics of autobiography. She knew that a writer must search her soul in order to say anything that is essential – Hilary Mantel Janet Frame is the greatest New Zealand writer. She is...