An article on the frame novel is especially appropriate for Australasian writers and readers because it was the English-Australasian writer Nevil Shute that introduced me to the style. Although the technique is considered “out of fashion” today, I still find it can help add interest to a read and serve as a useful device for structuring some stories.
What is a frame novel?
For a basic definition, I can’t do better than the one given on the Oregon State University site: “a frame story is a narrative that frames or surrounds another story or set of stories. It usually appears at the beginning and end of that larger story and provides important context and key information for how to read it.” A frame can also serve to tie together shorter tales and give unity to the entire work.
What are examples of a frame story?
The oldest example of a frame story must be “A Thousand and One Nights,” which dates to around 750 AD.
English literature abounds with examples such as: “The Canterbury Tales,” “Wuthering Heights,” “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” and “Frankenstein.”
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How did Nevil Shute use the frame technique?
A frame story can actually be thought of as bookends. An excellent example is Shute’s most beloved novel “A Town Like Alice” where in the first book we see Jean Paget in post-World War II London going off to Malaysia to build a well in a village.
The center of the book between the two bookends flashes back to the well-known story of the Malaysian Women’s March where Jean acts as an interpreter for the women with the Japanese, and the Australian soldier Joe Harmon, also a prisoner, helps them survive.
The final bookend returns to Jean building the well in Malaysia, where she finds Joe again.
This example shows how the frame story leads the reader from the first story to the central one and establishes the context for the embedded account before bringing us back to the opening narrative.
How has the frame style helped my storytelling?
I have found this technique a great help in creating a context for interpreting my central story, especially for historical novels. It gives the reader clues to the meaning of events, can show how events in the past have impacted life today, and helps today’s reader relate to long-ago events.
I used this technique in my Arthurian grail search epic Glastonbury by framing each of the historic sections with Austin Ringwode, the last of the Glastonbury monks after the dissolution of the monastery. Ringwode meditates on the Holy Grail: its history, its location, and its meaning. Hopefully, this leads the reader to similar questions.
In my current project The Celtic Cross Series, the history of Scotland and Ireland is put into context through the frame story of a young American women in the 1990s. Mary goes to Scotland and is caught up in a search for the Stone of Scone, thereby taking readers to the geographic locations today where the historic scenes occur. My goal is to give my reader a sense of being on the scene with this frame.
In the Irish epochs, Mary and her Scottish fiancé go to Northern Ireland at the end of the Troubles to work in a reconciliation center as part of the peace process. Mary struggles to make sense of the violence she sees around her and begins reading the family history journals their host offers her. This eases the reader into the complex and painful accounts of the history of Ireland that are the heart of the story. It is my aspiration that Mary’s quest for understanding and for peace will become everyone’s desire.
Have you written or read a frame story that you enjoyed? If so, what did you feel the frame added to the storytelling?
Hi Donna, Thanks for sharing your fascinating post. It’s years since I read A Town Like Alice. Now I’m thinking about it, I’ve seen the frame story structure used in split time fiction. I like the full circle aspect of the frame structure. 😊
Thank you, Narelle! Yes, “like a snake with its tail in its mouth” as they say. Once upon a time I read every Nevil Shute book I could get my hands on. Loved them all. Of course, Oh The Beach was a hit movie. I once said something to someone about it starting in Everet, Washington, and they said, “Oh, you read the book. The movie started in San Francisco.” Ha.
I have probably seen this but not known what it is called. Like a flash back to a something important then back to the current time.
I guess even a recent read where the heroine does something she was told was unlady like or not what someone of her station should do she hears her mother saying ladies don’t do …… It is probably not quite the same but it helps to understand the Heroine and why she is where she is now and why she values her freedom. (Sorry for the late reply been so tired)
That’s interesting, Jenny–a good analogy. The main difference would be that a frame is mostly used only at the beginning and the end, where a flashback is an integral part of the story. Also, there is usually more distance with a frame.
I don’t know if it’s all that out of fashion after all. I’ve seen it a lot, especially in collections to tie all the individual stories by different authors together. I don’t see it as much in a single story, but Naomi Rawlings and Karen Witemeyer have both used it in their latest series.
I’m delighted to hear that, Dienece! It’s really fun how fashions do recycle, and this is such a useful device. I love the Flannery O’Connor quotation that goes something like, “You can’t say they aren’t doing that any more as long as I’m doing it.”