I was now an established citizen with little hope of returning across the frontier; I was in the crazy world, separated now by more than locked doors & barred windows from the people who called themselves sane.` When Janet Frame`s doctor suggested that she write about her traumatic experiences in mental institutions in order to free herself from them, the result was Faces in the Water, a powerful & poignant novel. Istina Mavet descends through increasingly desolate wards, with the threat of leucotomy ever present. As she observes her fellow patients, long dismissed by hospital staff, with humour & compassion, she reveals her original & questing mind. This riveting novel became an international classic, translated into nine languages, & has also been used as a medical school text.