Gentle Reads

Be Frank with Me

by Julia Claiborne Johnson

Genre: Gentle Reads; General Fiction

Publication Date: Feb. 2, 2016

Number of Pages: 288

Geographical Setting: L.A., Bel Air, CA

Time Period: 2000-2010

Series (If applicable): NA

Plot Summary:

Enter Alice Whitley, a woman just a little late in life. After getting her accounting degree, Alice doesn’t want to use it just yet. With a random and lucky turn of events, Alice ends up working for Isaac Vargas, head honcho at a major publishing company. He enlists Alice to help M.M. Banning (Mimi), a reclusive author, trying to finish her second novel. Excited about her new opportunity, Alice flies from NYC to L.A. CA to help Mimi take care of her child and do some housework chores.

When Alice meets Frank, Banning’s son, she realizes there is more to him than meets the eye. This nine-year-old boy is a classic Hollywood movie fanatic with a killer eye for 1930s fashion. Alice continues to understand Frank and all his quirks and suddenly, Xander, a mysterious handyman with incredible physique appears. With no information or help from Mimi, Alice continues to wonder who Frank’s father is and what Xander has to do with this family.

While trying to understand Frank, Mimi, and all the happenings around her, Alice has to insure Mimi finishes her book. Filled with Hollywood stories, quotes from classic movies, and interspersed with interesting facts, Be Frank With Me will melt your heart. As you continue reading, Frank lifts off the page, showing you how a nine-year-old can simply capture your heart.

Subject Headings: 

• Mainstream Fiction
• Women Authors
• Eccentric family

Appeal:

• Likeable, quirky characters
• Golden Age of Hollywood - Frank and Alice reference many classic Hollywood films as well as many from the silent film era
• Leisurely pace - Told from the perspective of Alice, it takes your through her thought process and the events that take place. It’s slow-moving, but will keep you wanting to read.

Rule of Three

• Empathy - Throughout the novel, Alice comes to understand Frank’s quirkiness and the anxiety problems that he has. As you move forward with the novel, you begin to comprehend what Frank is going through.
• Upbeat - Even though Alice goes through difficult experiences and problems, she always manages to get through on top. She is always positive and finds a way to combat her obstacles.
• Comfortable - The novel invites you in from the beginning. You understand the characters and keep rooting for them, as if they were sitting right there in your home.

Characteristics of Gentle Reads Genre (taken from The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction)

• Be Frank With Me is “upbeat” and “touches the heart.” Saricks writes that gentle reads “are ‘old-fashioned’ stories that reflect traditional values” (95).
• Language is “colorful” and expressive, this novel “contains no profanity” (Saricks 95).
• Claiborne creates “comfortable companions...a source of humor that lightens the tone of these books” (Saricks 95).
• Saricks explains that “settings are usually in a small town, enclosed community, or rural area” (95). This novel takes place in L.A., but the characters are contained within the glass house, Mimi’s house. Alice and Frank go on adventures into L.A., but most of the novel takes place in the glass house.
• Be Frank With Me is “a leisurely story filled with affable characters and no unsettling surprises” (Saricks 95). Events occur within the story, but always manage to unravel and be tied back into a bow again.

Similar Authors and Works:

• My Grandmother asked me to tell you she’s sorry - Fredrik Backman
• The Good Luck of Right Now - Matthew Quick
• Thank you for all things - Sandra Kring
• The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver

Resources

Goodreads. (2018). Be Frank With Me. Book image and suggestions retrieved from

https://www.goodreads.com

Saricks, J. (2009). The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction (2nd e.d.). Chicago:

       American Library Association.