Janet Frame is born in New Zealand's
South Island. During her youth, she develops an affinity for literature, writing poetry and reading
Grimms' Fairy Tales. She graduates from primary school and goes to her local
athenaeum. During her adolescence, Janet hangs out with her sisters Myrtle and Isabel and their friends Poppy and Marguerite. One afternoon, Janet stays behind while Myrtle goes swimming. That same day, her parents are alerted that Myrtle had drowned. She mourns her sister's death. Experiencing depression, Janet burns pages of her poetry she had written as a child. As a young adult, Janet has become repressed and introverted. She studies at the university while she and Isabel stay with her Aunt Isy and Uncle George. By 1945, Janet is a teacher in training, but quits her vocation after a visit from an inspector. She obtains a doctor's certificate and works as a nurse, but decides to work as a writer. Sometime later, she attempts suicide after ingesting a pack of
aspirin. Her employers give her a leave of rest and Janet is admitted to the psychiatric ward. While under observation, Frame is diagnosed with
schizophrenia. Janet suffers another personal tragedy with the death of her sister Isabel, who drowned in the Picton Harbour. To cope with her sister's death, Janet turns to poetry and is admitted into
Sunnyside Hospital, where she receives electroshock therapy. In 1951, while Frame is hospitalised, she publishes her first book,
The Lagoon and Other Stories, a volume collection of short poetry. The book is awarded the Hubert Church Memorial Award. She is discharged and briefly stays with author
Frank Sargeson. There, her first novel
Owls Do Cry is published. In 1956, Janet leaves New Zealand and arrives in
London on a literary grant. She briefly resides in
Ibiza, and shares her rental room with Bernhard, an American studying overseas, with whom she starts a romantic relationship. Their romance ends when Bernhard leaves when the summer semester ends. She finds herself pregnant with his child, but suffers a miscarriage. In 1958, she readmits herself into a psychiatric ward under the care of Dr. Cawley. He concludes that Janet was never a schizophrenic, but had suffered from the effects of prolonged hospitalisation. He recommends she write about her experiences, to which Janet promptly writes another successful novel,
Faces in the Water. Impressed with her past success, her publisher
Mark Goulden suggests that she could write a bestselling book. Goulden resettles Janet to
Knightsbridge, where she meets fellow authors
Alan and
Ruth Sillitoe. Shortly after, she receives a letter informing her that her father has died. She sails back to New Zealand, is interviewed by a local journalist, and resumes her writing. ==Cast==