Frankie - Graham Norton

Frankie is an immersive, decade-sweeping story that brims with Graham Norton's trademark heart, intelligence and compellingly written characters. The novel takes us from small-town, conservative Ireland in the 1940s, to the dazzling art scene of 1960s New York, via London, and tells the story of Frankie Powell, who has never been the leading lady in her own life.

Frankie has lived a long life and her small London flat is crammed full of art, furniture and memories. Damian, her young Irish 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, 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, the lives you may encounter and the accidental choices you find you have made. Frankie discovers that life is not always the one we had hoped for, or the one others had expected of us.

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