Envoy from Mirror City: An Autobiography

Library Journal

The final volume of Frame's autobiography, following To the Is-Land ( LJ 10/1/82) and An Angel at My Table ( LJ 8/84), has less naive wonder and more literariness than its predecessors. From 1957 onward, Frame traces her journey to London, then Ibiza, Andorra, and back to London, cataloging her awakening to life, to sexuality, and to her own literary talent. Most important, a humane psychiatrist, as well as her own competency, finally remove the stigma of schizophrenia. Freed from the belief that her thought processes are abnormal, she begins to write freely and abundantly, at last integrating her imaginative life with reality in what she calls the ``mirror city'' concept. While she has retained her unique and often poetic insight into daily life, the writer we encounter here is clearly a happier and more whole person. Highly recommended. Shelley Cox, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale