Living in the Maniototo

Janet Frame (1924-2004) is New Zealand's most famous writer. She was a novelist, poet, essayist and short-story writer. She sought the support and company of fellow writers and set out single-mindedly and courageously to achieve her goal of being a writer. She wrote her first novel, Owls Do Cry while staying with her mentor Frank Sargeson, and then left New Zealand, not to return for seven years.

Her autobiography inspired Jane Campion's acclaimed film, An Angel at My Table. She was an honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Literature and won the Commonwealth Literature Prize. In 1983 she was awarded the CBE.

Quirky, rich, eccentric Margaret Atwood Probably as near a masterpiece as we are likely to see this year ... it is a novel full of riches MARTYN GOFF, DAILY TELEGRAPH Puts everything else that has come my way this year in the shade GUARDIAN A clever, high-spirited performance New Yorker

'Quirky, rich, eccentric' Margaret Atwood 'Probably as near a masterpiece as we are likely to see this year ... it is a novel full of riches' - Martyn Goff, Daily Telegraph 'Puts everything else that has come my way this year in the shade' - Guardian 'A clever, high-spirited performance' New Yorker 'The most original and resourceful novel I have read for a long time' - New Statesman 'Frame's novel is remarkable - full of word plays, cameo portraits and deliberate mystery' - Publishers Weekly