Owls Do Cry Audiobook By Janet Frame cover art

Owls Do Cry

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Owls Do Cry

By: Janet Frame
Narrated by: Heather Bolton
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Owls Do Cry is Janet Frame's first novel. She describes her idea behind it in the second volume of her autobiography: 'Pictures of great treasure in the midst of sadness and waste haunted me and I began to think, in fiction, of a childhood, home life, hospital life, using people known to me as a base for main characters, and inventing minor characters.'

Regarded by many as one of the best New Zealand novels published, Owls Do Cry forms a loose trilogy with her two subsequent novels, Faces in the Water and The Edge of the Alphabet.

©1961 Janet Frame Literary Trust. All rights reserved (P)2008 Bolinda Publishing Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Editorial reviews

This poignant and semi-autobiographical debut novel from New Zealand author Janet Frame created a sensation when it was first published, in 1957. With gorgeous but often experimental writing and a plot featuring death, mental illness, and institutionalization, Owls Do Cry was frequently seen as too grim at the time it appeared. Here, performer Heather Bolton's warm, sensitive narration counterbalances the difficult subject matter and provides a compelling listen for a classic that’s full of original images and intense, poetic prose.

Critic reviews

"Janet Frame is one of New Zealand's literary treasures, and her first novel, Owls Do Cry, published in 1957, is considered a masterpiece. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the novel chronicles the harrowing experiences of 14-year-old Daphne, diagnosed schizophrenic and confined to a mental institution. Much of Daphne's story unfolds in stream-of-consciousness ramblings, the hallucinatory, lyrical poetry that marks the music of madness. Heather Bolton's voice is soft and intriguing, a voice clearly from another world. When Daphne sings her poetry, Bolton's wispy, compelling school-girl soprano confirms that this book is a perfect fit for audio. Voices from the outside world come mainly from Daphne's sister, Teresa's, detailed diaries. Bolton handles the more grounded prose with ease, while making Daphne's surreal interior monologues strange, beautiful, and haunting" (AudioFile Magazine)

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I now know why one leaves Dunedin in the 1950s and 60s. Funnily enough the weather does not feature as an aid to the claustrophobia smallness of NZ in the setting. she is a great writer but I will need a few months to worm out the dross of depression before attempting another Frame special.

well told but a wee bit depressing.

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