Faces In The Water

*Review coverage *Featured on the Virago website

Narrated entirely from the viewpoint of a young insane woman, this novel provides a moving description of the horrific conditions in two New Zealand mental institutions.

'One of the most impressive accounts of madness to be found in literature' ANITA BROOKNER

'Lyrical, touching and deeply entertaining' JOHN MORTIMER, OBSERVER

'Any one of her books could be published today and it would be ground-breaking' ELEANOR CATTON

'I was now an established citizen with little hope of returning across the frontier; I was in the crazy world, separated now by more than locked doors and barred windows from the people who called themselves sane.'

When Janet Frame's doctor suggested that she write about her traumatic experiences in mental institutions in order to free herself from them, the result was Faces in the Water, a powerful and poignant novel.

Istina Mavet descends through increasingly desolate wards, with the threat of leucotomy ever present. As she observes her fellow patients, long dismissed by hospital staff with humour and compassion, she reveals her original and questing mind. This riveting novel became an international classic, translated into nine languages, and has also been used as a medical school text.