Frankie by Graham Norton

Frankie by Graham Norton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Pages - 291

Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton

Source - Netgalley and bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Frankie Howe has lived a long life, her small flat is crammed full of art, furniture - and memories. Damian, her young carer, listens as she gradually tells him parts of her story - a story that takes us into a progressive, daring world of New York artists on the brink of fame, aspiring writers and larger-than-life characters.

Always just on the periphery, looking on, young Frankie is never quite sure enough of herself to take centre stage. But the outsider holds certain advantages, sees things others don't, can influence without drawing attention. And when the map has been lost, it's anyone's guess where you may end up, or the accidental choices you find you have made. Frankie discovers that life is not always the one we hope for, or the one others expect of us.

Travelling from post-war Ireland to the dazzling art scene of 1960s New York by way of London, Frankie is an immersive, decade-sweeping novel about love, bravery and what it means to live a significant life.


My Review

Damien is a carer and a bit adrift in his life when he gets called on for a job to look after an elderly lady who has hurt her leg and needs some care. Meet Frankie, her bestie Nor has arranged Damien to come and care for her during recovery and Frankie is spicy, fiercely independent and not amused. However with Damien staying over and a lot of hours to get through together Frankie starts to warm up and tell Damien about her life, she is the main character dahling. The book bounces between present day, elderly Frankie and going back to her early years and how we got to present day.

Ooft guys, there is a few emotionals so buckle up. I just wanted to hug Frankie, especially when we go back in time to young Frankie. She is so innocent, sweet and gets a bit of a shady hand dealt, we go from teen, to her first marriage and going from one situation to another, friendships, relationships, making her way in the world. She is one of those people you could just listen to their stories over and over, with Norton he draws us into her world so we can "live" it with her.

The book explores different themes and as I said emotive with it, coming of age, loss, love, LGB, AIDS, personal growth and woven with emotive scenes, like I said I wanted to hug Frankie, bless her. Whilst I loved it the last quarter went so fast and I wasn't ready to end the story and felt it came quite quickly, dare I say rushed. I would have loved another 100 pages, uck I could have kept reading to be honest, I really liked Frankie and escaping my reality to envelope in hers for a wee while, 4/5.

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Isabel's Skin by Peter Benson

Isabel's Skin by Peter Benson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 250

Publisher - Alma Books

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

David Morris lives the quiet life of a book-valuer for a London auction house, travelling every day by omnibus to his office in the Strand. When he is asked to make a trip to rural Somerset to value the library of the recently deceased Lord Buff-Orpington, the sense of trepidation he feels as he heads into the country is confirmed the moment he reaches his destination, the dark and impoverished village of Ashbrittle. These feelings turn to dread when he meets the enigmatic Professor Richard Hunt and catches a glimpse of a screaming woman he keeps prisoner in his house.



My Review

Such a strange book and not what I was expecting at all! David works at an auction house and values books, based in London we see him head to Somerset. Valuing the books of a recently deceased Lord he knows there are likely treasures in the library. The journey there is difficult, the people he meets strange, there are rules for the house and out walking about. It is pitched as a slick gothic tale/murder mystery, I was expecting ghosts or something weird and dodgy within the house. A chance meeting flings everything to pot and David finds himself caught up in the most strangest/dangerous path that throws everything in his neat and ordered wee life into whack.

Even now I have finished the book I don't really know what to think of it, it took a completely different turn to where I thought it was going to go. It is indeed a strange tale, it has murder, mystery and I did feel a bit spooky vibes in the journey to and arrival at Lord Buff-Orpington's place. I loved the book scenes, I know I know pure geek sentence but his delight at finding old books/treasures & I just love browsing folks books let alone a collection like that!

David goes on a bit of a journey, personal growth maybe is the way to describe it, he arrives at the house as a person set in his way with a wee routine/decent job. By the time he leaves he is caught up in a whirlwind of chaos that leads to a complete change in his chain of thought & actions having ripples and effect on his life journey and who he is.

I have no idea what category I would put this book into, it is so strange and random, weird yet dare I say enjoyable, I don't really know the word. I kept wanting to read to see how it panned out, I felt for one of the characters, one I wanted to punch and the others I didn't have much of an evocative response at all. 3/5 for me this time, I have never read him before but would be interesting in trying something else of his. He certainly creates visual that stay with you, I am still picturing Isabel's skin & I think had the book been thicker I would have enjoyed it more. Interesting for sure!

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