I wanted to read something from a country I don't know much about. This is from New Zeeland. As I'm also interested in psychiatry and female biographies, this was the one.

On the back of the book the publisher is advertising the authors triumph : being declared mentally sane and finding public acknowledgment for her writing.

I have lived with psychosis myself (what was used to be called schizophrenia) and I find it highly disturbing that Janet Frame faked schizophrenia to get attention.

This part of Janet Frame's autobiography covers the years of early adulthood until she turns 31 and is beginning to find her way in the world. The over-riding image that the reader gets is of the painfully shy woman who attempts to put on a persona, and the tragic results of that which caused her to be incarcerated in a mental institution for 8 years.

I listened to an Audio recording of this, and didn't like the narration. This is a shame.

This book meant such a lot to me, especially since the fact that she was committed suicide and was sent to a mental hospital due to the fact that she was too shy and reluctant to talk to people. Which really made me quite worried.