Owls Do Cry - Janet Frame

Category: Adults, Classic, General Fiction, Literature
Language: English
Keywords: 20th Century Disability Modernism new zealand Poetry Poverty Psychiatry

Written by Janet Frame
Read by Heather Bolton
Format: MP3
Bitrate: Variable
Unabridged

Considered the first great novel to come out of New Zealand, Owls Do Cry (1957) tells the story of the Withers family: Francie, who is twelve and about to start work at the woollen mills, hard drudgery sweetened with the thrill of riding a bike to work; Toby, who would rather play at the dump than go to school, where the dark velvet cloak of epilepsy often wraps itself around him; Chicks, the youngest; and Daphne, whose rich poetic way of seeing the world leads to a heartbreaking life in institutions.

Janet Frame writes of hardship, poverty and tragedy with beauty and a deep sensitivity. Owls Do Cry is a poetic masterpiece.