This was a biography about a woman's experiences in two mental institutions in New Zealand. This book makes Girl Interrupted and The Bell Jar look like heaven. The living conditions are horrible and the doctors only bother with the patients who are the most "sane." The main flaw I have with this book is that it's kind of detached. The author doesn't have any friends in these institutions. I would have liked to have made an emotional connection in the book other than the main character. On the other hand though if this writer didn't make any friends then that is simply her experience. The closest connection we meet is with a staff member who used to care but gave up along the way. She knows that this author judges her and responds aggressively towards her. The author's biography An Angel at my Table was later made into a movie by Jane Campion one I watched more than twenty years ago. This is apparently New Zealand's most famous writer.
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