This study investigates how Janet Frame weaves together literary sources from her extensive reading to create a web of intertextual relationships. Patricia Neville traces Frame's passion for books beginning with her childhood and earliest published work in the Otago Daily Times. Drawing on new research and through close readings of Frame's novels, she discusses the effects of Frame's borrowings from the Bible and Shakespeare and from writing from New Zealand, Britain, France, and the USA. A fascinating read not only for scholars, but for all admirers of Janet Frame's fiction.

Patricia Neville, PhD, read English Literature for her first degree at London University, Goldsmiths' College, and then became a teacher of English in secondary and adult education. She first encountered Frame's novels while on a holiday in New Zealand and was inspired to embark on her own study of Frame's reading patterns and literary borrowings. Her doctoral study on Frame's novels for the Open University took her back to New Zealand for archival research. This book is the outcome of her explorations, scrutinies, and analyses.