In the Memorial Room

Janet Frame

Jul 2017 · Bolinda · Narrated by Humphrey Bower

About this audiobook

Harry Gill, a moderately successful writer of historical fiction, has been awarded the annual Watercress-Armstrong Fellowship – a 'living memorial' to the poet, Margaret Rose Hurndell. He arrives in the small French village of Menton, where Hurndell once lived and worked, to write. But the Memorial Room is not suitable – it has no electricity or water. Hurndell never wrote here, though it is expected of Harry. Janet Frame's previously unpublished novel draws on her own experiences in Menton, France as a Katherine Mansfield Fellow. It is a wonderful social satire, a send-up of the cult of the dead author, and – in the best tradition of Frame – a fascinating exploration of the complexity and the beauty of language.

Ratings and reviews

Not only a funny and clever story about life in fiction, the narrator too is brilliant.

About the author

Janet Frame (1924–2004) is New Zealand's most distinguished and celebrated writer. She wrote eleven novels, four collections of short stories, a book of poetry, a children's book, and a three-volume autobiography.

Humphrey Bower is a gifted and versatile actor. Since obtaining a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature at Oxford University, he has worked extensively in theatre, television and audiobook narration. Humphrey won the prestigious Audie Award (US) for his performance of The Family Frying Pan by Bryce Courtenay, and was shortlisted for an Audie Award for his performances of Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan and Brother Fish by Bryce Courtenay. Humphrey's sensitive and intelligent readings are highly regarded and he is well-known for his capacity to perform a variety of accents.