Lynnie 
contemporary fiction
Be Frank With Me is the story of a reclusive writer, Mimi, her eccentric 9-year old son Frank, and Mimi's publisher's assistant, Alice, who goes to California to ensure that Mimi's newest novel can be completed without interruption.
The first word that comes to mind when I think of this story and Julia Claiborne Johnson's characters is "charming." I was smitten with 9-year old Frank from the very beginning- he's quirky, he's unusually bright, and he does not miss a thing. Frank is a renaissance boy, 9 going on 45, and with a sense of style based on old black and white movies it's understandable why he has trouble fitting in with his peers. While it's not openly discussed, the story flirts around the possibility of Frank being autistic and I like that most of the other characters simply accepted him at face value.
As much as I adored Frank, I rarely connected with the other characters in the story. Alice, who has flown to California to supervise Frank's mother, Mimi, as she writes her newest novel, has a sweet relationship with Frank throughout the novel and I applauded her ability to accept things as they were without trying to change Frank or Mimi too much. Mimi frustrated me with her aloofness, but at the same time her love for Frank was undeniable and I often wished we would learn more about her.
The other characters are all just window dressing though- Frank is the star of this story, as he should be- and it was lovely to spend some time getting to know him.
No comments:
Post a Comment