Engaging, immersive, and well-narrated. A recommended first purchase in all formats for most collections.

“𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴-𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.”

I don’t know what it is about me reading and loving books with much older protagonists but it seems to be working for me. I picked this book up on a whim, not knowing anything about it and I’m so glad I took the chance. It is a really special story about a special and unlikely friendship.

Damian is a caretaker and hired for a short term assignment to help Frankie as she recovers from a fall. By showing interest in her, he manages to get her to open up and tell him her life story - and it is an incredible life story. Frankie lived through very difficult circumstances and during fascinating times. We end up with dual timelines, a coming of age story, and a very sweet friendship - all of the things I love in a book!

I did this one on audio, narrated by the author. I highly recommend that version!

This is the second Norton novel I have read, and thoroughly enjoyed. I’m not generally one for celebrity writers, but Norton is a gifted storyteller and his narrated audiobooks are a real treat. Frankie is an octogenarian, who has tripped ( not fallen) and she is recalling her life to in - home care giver, Damien, while she recovers from a broken ankle. As Frankie tells her life story, we see a young girl orphaned at 11, sent to live at the village rectory with her unloving aunt and uncle, who marry her off at 18 to a clergyman twice her age. This could be a really sad story, but the resilient Frankie is a wonderful character and Norton’s novel is engaging and filled with empathy as it encompasses the 1980’s AIDS crisis, recalled through Frankie’s life.

Unputdownable. I loved this book and look forward to reading more work by Graham Norton.
Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this book. It is one of the the titles I've chosen for our New Year New Books program this weekend. Love the variety of settings!

A beautiful look at what it means to live a life, to be known. Graham Norton is a gifted and entertaining storyteller. This one will stay with me for a long time.

I enjoyed hearing the story of Frankie and all she went through in her life. It was enjoyable but I didn't love it.

Thanks to Harper Audio & NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Graham Norton continues being the Rightful Heir to the Crown of Maeve Binchy. This story is not as good as his most recent novel, but it's quite enjoyable (I do tire of the dual timeline trend, though - ugh).

Damian is a young gay man who works as an in-home carer for elderly and/or injured folks, and Frances "Frankie" Howe is his current client. She is around 80, with a broken ankle, a London apartment, and a flamboyant best friend, Nore (Nora). We learn Frankie's dramatic history as told to Damian while they spend evenings together drinking tea, or, if Nore is with them, Calvados (in good china teacups). There are also keepsakes in the form of newspaper clippings and old photos.

This is a sweet story that covers growing up in little-village Ireland in the '50s all the way through to unlikely adventures in New York City in the '80s. Norton is big on representation and there are many gay characters, as is usual for him. The stories about Frankie living through the AIDS crisis and losing many friends is especially poignant. My only real complaint - because I am not expecting superb writing from Graham Norton, so central casting characters like Nore (freewheeling lesbian who is married to the gay scion of a very wealthy family) don't bother me in this context - is the lack of depth for Damian's character. He might as well be the little boy enjoying the bedtime story in "The Princess Bride" for all we get of him, aside from a few notes about his parents, fractured from him by his coming out, and the pain of the loss of his mother, who's sided with his intolerant dad. I would've loved to hear more about THAT, and normally Norton ties up all his loose ends, but not this time. I also have some quibbles with the ending, but ... whatever. I felt a sense of anticlimax which was annoying and a little dispiriting, if more realistic than anything else in this book.

A solid effort, for this sort of book, and Norton continues to provide a full array of distinct voices and ALL the emotions and nuances in speech that you want in a one-man, 3 act audio play.

3.5 stars rounded up