Faces in the Water & Edge­ of the Alphabet by Frame, Janet - 2005

Vintage New Zealand, 2005. Hardcover. As New. As New. Drawing on Janet Frame's own experience, these two novels explore the world of the mind - isolated and inarticulate - and very different ways of leaving the protection and confines of home. In Faces in the Water (first published in 1961), Istina Mavet moves in and out of mental hospitals, facing the regular terrors of electric shock treatment and the threats of being sent to the dreaded Ward 2 and being given a leucotomy. In The Edge of the Alphabet (first published in 1962), epileptic Toby Withers and failed schoolteacher Zoe Bryce leave behind the judgements of their communities for the wider world, boarding a liner for London. Each novel is distinguished by startlingly fresh and apposite imagery, beautiful writing and vivid characters and scenes. Both show Janet Frame's wisdom, compassion and genius.