Towards Another Summer (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

New Zealand writer Janet Frame (1924–2004) will stand as one of the most sensitive, forthright, and adventurous illuminators of human consciousness. The author of many celebrated novels, stories, and a three-volume autobiography, Frame survived a turbulent and tragic childhood, mental illness, and nearly disastrous medical treatment to reap numerous awards. The cost of literary success is the subject of this 1963 novel, appearing for the first time in the U.S., about a writer, Grace Cleave, who has left sunny, lush New Zealand for sooty, crushing London. Grace accepts an invitation to spend a weekend with a kind journalist and his family in the country, then fails miserably to overcome her debilitating self-consciousness. Equally flummoxed by the snowy landscape and the warmth of Philip’s household, she turns incoherent and retreats into all-consuming memories of her childhood. So revealing is this moody, metaphysical, and rhapsodic novel, Frame set it aside. Wisely rescued and posthumously published, this exquisite portrait of a mind under pressure will revitalize appreciation for a poetic master stylist, sharp wit, deep thinker, and consummate artist. --Donna Seaman

Product Description

“Self-styled” writer Grace Cleave has writer’s block, and her anxiety is only augmented by her chronic aversion to leaving her home, to be “among people, even for five or ten minutes.” And so it is with trepidation that she accepts an invitation to spend a weekend away from London in the north of England. Once there, she feels more and more like a migratory bird, as the pull of her native New Zealand makes life away from it seem transitory. Grace longs to find her place in the world, but first she must learn to be comfortable in her own skin, feathers and all.

From the author of the universally acclaimed An Angel at My Table comes an exquisitely written novel of exile and return, homesickness and belonging. Written in 1963 when Janet Frame was living in London, this is the first publication of a novel she considered too personal to be published while she was alive.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158243476X
• ISBN-13: 978-1582434766
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #242,270 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, March 3, 2009

By	N. Marsden - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you only read one book of hardback fiction this year then this should be it. I am amazed that it is coming out in America last as I have had to buy most of Janet Frame's novels from American sites given that the UK seems to be indifferent to her talent.

This is very much a personal novel for Janet but if you are at all familiar with her work or her history you will appreciate the wonderful honesty she displays here. For god's sake buy it - it is one of her best novels.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Minor work, April 9, 2009

By	ExPat "ExPat" (NZ/UK/US) - See all my reviews

We have come to expect posthumous works to be inferior to those the artist chooses to release in their own lifetime. This is no exception.

Although savvy publishers have marketed this novella as "too personal" for publication in Frame's lifetime, it seems more likely that the author held it back not because it was too revealing (indeed, her early novels are far more personal) but because it failed to meet her own high standards.

Those familiar with Frame's fiction will most likely be disappointed by this work, which seems to be less a fully-fledged work of fiction than a protracted personal essay. Here, many of the subtleties and complexities of Frame's best work are reduced to mere observations and asides, while her gift for metaphor and cadence likewise suffers. It is telling that Frame wrote this while struggling to complete another novel, as this sense of frustration and uncertainty infects "Towards Another Summer."

In short, this work is recommended reading for completists only.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Towards Another Summer by Janet Frame, July 4, 2009

By	B. Roberts - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Towards Another Summer

Janet Frame is one of my favorite authors. This book was supposed to be her most personal and wasn't released until after her death. Frame was a fragile person with an excellent prose style of writing. I read this book in 2 days. If you love Janet Frame, read this book.