Living in the Maniototo by Janet Frame Welcome to the comical, ironic, and multiple worlds of one Violet Pansy Proudlock (a ventriloquist), who is also known as Alice Thumb ( a gossip and secret sharer of limited imaginings) and, at other times, as Mavis Furness Barnwell Halleton ( a writer twice married). We follow Mavis through two marriages and watch her bury two husbands. Above all, we are privy to the attendant avoidances, interruptions, and irrelevancies that are part of her attempt to complete a novel. It is a process that is joyful, painful, rueful, and profound, and through i t all Violet-Alice-Mavis chooses to be our entertainer and guide. PA, ISBN: 0807609587 $12.50 (Can: $19.00)