Considered the first great New Zealand novel and a modernist masterpiece, Owls Do Cry, first published in 1957, tells of the Withers siblings, Daphne, Chicks, Toby and Francie, and their struggles with financial instability, mental health, disability and grief. The sections on Daphne’s mental illness, informed as they are by Janet Frame’s own experiences in institutions, are especially powerful. Descriptions of events in Daphne’s life begin grounded in reality, but slip into grand, dreamlike imagery (“a woman led Daphne to the bathroom where a trough had been scooped from a side of one of the mountains”), vividly conveying her struggle for sanity. Lack of understanding of epilepsy at the time is touched on: Toby “falls into fits”, scaring and embarrassing his sisters. His illness severely restricts his life and only in dreams is he free to be and do what he wants. While a strong reflection of the time at which it was written, Owls Do Cry remains innovative and relevant. Frame’s idiosyncratic and startlingly visual style means that the book’s immense power to unnerve, astonish and impress endures.
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