Reviews

My Lovely Frankie by Judith Clarke

miffyf's review against another edition

5.0

My Lovely Frankie is, quite simply, beautiful and heartbreaking. Clarke's writing is wonderful, and the story is gripping. Told from Tom's point of view, looking back at his youth, the descriptions of Tom's and Frankie's life at St. Finbar's, a school for boys that want to become priests, are, at times, harrowing. The deprivation of liberty, the indoctrination, the meanness of their existence, the bloody-minded adherence to rules, and the boys, some of them still proper children, trapped on a lifepath when they have no real idea of what they are getting into - or what it will cost.
I'm not a reader that dog-ears books, but my copy has many turndowns. There are so many wonderful, quotable passages:

'It's the love that counts, Tom.' [My father] looked at me then. He said, 'It isn't wrong, Tom. Being able to love another person: in all your life, that's the most important thing.'

If you ask me the sound I remember most clearly from St. Finbar's, then it's not the sound of the wind raving or the sea roaring or the bells that ruled our lives, it's that crying of the small kids in the dormitory upstairs. When I first heard it at the beginning of the year I'd expected someone would go up and calm them down, someone like John Rushall, perhaps, or even Father Stuckey. That didn't happen and as time passed I realised that, like the rule about not going back upstairs after breakfast, it was part of our training, our formation: for us there was no use crying because no one would ever come to comfort us. Like soldiers, we were being taught to have no pity for ourselves, and even then the edge of it struck me: that if you had no pity on yourself, how could you have it for other people, ever?

There are many more quotes, but most are spoilers, and I don't want to preempt your own reading. It's an unusual choice to have an adult voice telling the story of young men on the cusp of adulthood thrust into an alien and forbidding situation, but a highly successful one. This book was an unexpected joy. Highly recommended.

babyleo's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement and Homophobia

crankie36's review against another edition

3.0

My Lovely Frankie is very unique for what it is. It has a slow start but a fun way of sharing a point of view. It’s older Tom sharing his story of how he knew his lovely Frankie.

It’s a gorgeous LGBT story but hard to read at first. There are twists and turns that emerge near the end of the book that come as a surprise. I definitely didn’t see them coming!

It is cute but meant for only certain types of readers.

mimiisbooks's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Confusing read, but I felt many emotions especially towards the end.

littleelfman's review against another edition

3.0

This is a gentle and reflective historical novel about the transformative power of love and the lovely world, and how destructive that can be when they're denied.

em_lavender's review against another edition

4.0

this was very good! and very sad!

sarah1984's review against another edition

3.0

A slightly sad story of a boy in love with another boy in a 1950s seminary school. Set in Australia, but other than some of the place names you wouldn't necessarily know it for most of the story.

mandi_m's review against another edition

3.0

A delicately told story of faith and love that took me to the 1950s. The life for the boys in the seminary was clearly evoked and was heartbreaking. This is a gentle story and not for those who need an action filled plot, but it is one that rewards a quiet and reflective read.

mariereads_books's review against another edition

3.0

This book was achingly lovely. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, given that I am extremely cynical and not religious in the slightest but the backdrop of god and the seminary brought so much to this story - it wouldn't have been the same without it. This book is quiet and reflective and so much about love, exactly the kind of book the world needs right now. I knew from about halfway how it was going to end so I wasn't surprised but I was still heartbroken in that way you can only be when you finally meet an outcome you knew was inevitable.

missusb21's review against another edition

5.0

Thought-provoking but in a gentle and considered way.

Beautiful, as only Judith Clarke can be.

And quite different.