Frankie – 9781529391459

Description

The latest novel from million-copy bestseller author Graham Norton – a dazzling, decades-sweeping story about love, bravery and what it means to live a significant life.

‘Warm and wise, Frankie is a woman worth getting to know’
BONNIE GARMUS

‘I loved Frankie so much. I couldn’t stop reading it, but feel bereft now that I’ve finished’
NIGELLA LAWSON

‘Gently melancholic, this novel is lovely company’
THE NEW ZEALAND LISTENER

‘A masterclass in storytelling that grabs you by the heartstrings from page one and refuses to let go’
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT

Always on the periphery, looking on, young Frankie Howe was never quite sure enough of herself to take centre stage – after all, life had already judged her harshly. Now old, Frankie finds it easier to forget the life that came before.

Then Damian, a young Irish carer, arrives at her London flat, there to keep an eye on her as she recovers from a fall. A memory is sparked, and the past crackles into life as Damian listens to the story Frankie has kept stored away all these years.

Travelling from post-war Ireland to 1960s New York – a city full of art, larger than life characters and turmoil – Frankie shares a world in which friendship and chance encounters collide. A place where, for a while, life blazes with an intensity that can’t last but will perhaps live on in other ways and in other people. But as Frankie’s past slowly emerges, her spirit and endurance are revealed as undeniable . . . and unforgettable.

‘Fascinating, funny, sad… Every page is intriguing. Once again, Graham shows his class as a writer’
JO BRAND

‘I was enthralled by Frankie from page one. It’s a beauty. A warm, deeply moving, life-enhancing novel’
SARAH WINMAN

‘Frankie is a perfect song of a book and everyone who likes human beings should read it’
ANDREW O’HAGAN

‘Immersive, stunningly written, and very emotional – this is a triumph’
JENNIE GODFREY

‘Packed with surprises, it’s moving, riveting and enriching’
MATT CAIN

‘A great sweep of a novel, full of unexpected twists’
LISSA EVANS

* Graham Norton’s most recent novel Forever Home was a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller in April 2023, and Frankie was a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller in September 2024.