published February 2, 2016
William Morrow
Some books reel you in with story and some reel you in with character. “Be Frank With Me” is a character book with a lovable and exasperating character at its center – sartorially splendid Frank, an old soul of nine years.
Frank favors the fashions of the 1930s even if it means his typical-child backyard horseplay shreds his morning coat or results in lost monocles. He is the son of Mimi Banning, the author of one massive book 30 years prior. The kind of book that changes lives, that gets dog-eared, re-read, marked up by restless youths, and then treasured by the adults they eventually become. It is the kind of book that inspires unreasonable fandom, and caused Banning to retreat behind the walls of a Bel Air mansion and become a recluse. Banning’s ability to live as a recluse is threatened by financial problems so she has contacted her editor Isaac Vargas – for the first time in decades – to say she wants to write a second book. It won’t matter if the book is good or bad – it will be huge.
Enter the narrator, Alice Whitley, Vargas’ young assistant. He sends Alice across the country to manage Banning’s household – and Frank – to free Banning to work on the manuscript. She is also meant to keep Banning on track. Alice enters this closed society with compassion and determination to not let her employer down. Frank is difficult – whip-smart but socially awkward, an insomniac prone to self-harm or rigid shutdown if his world becomes disordered. But he is also sweet, and full of fierce love for his mother – love that is returned tenfold. If Banning’s character seems brittle and brusque to Alice, one just has to consider the resources required to care for Frank while in self-imposed isolation.
“Be Frank With Me” is a heart-stealer of a book full of wit and tragedy, with a lot to say about what it means to be an outsider.
Happy reading!
An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion
