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23 June 2008

An Angel at my Table by Janet Frame

From a childhood and adolescence spent in a materially poor but intellectually rich family, years of incarceration in mental hospitals, and finally to her emergence from institutionalization to a new life as a writer, Janet Frame's autobiography - comprising the three volumes published individually as To the Is-land, An Angel at My Table and The Envoy from Mirror City - is more than just the record of her life. With unflinching honesty she transforms "ordinary facts and ideas into a shining palace of mirrors", and shows how the love of letters sustained her through the many difficult years.

Janet Frame was born in Dunedin in 1924, and died in 2004. She was the author of novels, poetry and short stories, and received many awards for her writing, but remains best known and loved for her works of autobiography.

Author: Janet Frame

Reader: Kerry Fox

Production

Abridged for radio by: Gail MacCallum
Sound engineer: Roi Hubermann and Tim Symonds
Producer: Libby Douglas

Publication

Publisher: Vintage