"With a tender touch, this true-to-life treasure explores life-changing intergenerational bonds and recovery from loss in engaging, stirring, humorous style."
Melding relatable real-life trials with first-class observational humour, Matt Coyne’s Frank and Red is the kind of read-in-one-sitting charmer that makes time stand still, while leaving you wondering how you raced through the story so fast.
As for the story, it’s centred on grumpy old Frank — a writer who lost his mojo the moment he lost his wife Marcie. Since her passing, he’s cut himself off from the world and only communicates with Marcie, who appears around the house, trying to gee him up into re-engaging with the world beyond their four walls. Estranged from their son, and outrageously rude to his friends, Frank pretty much only leaves the house to put out the bins.
Then he spies a new neighbour over the garden fence — Red, an energetic six-year-old who’s struggling with his parents’ separation and settling into a new school. An emotionally intelligent darling who loves Pokémon, bouncing on his trampoline, and asking Frank lots of questions. When an incident at school (not Red’s fault) throws Frank and Red together, an unlikely transformational friendship is born.
Driven by top-notch dialogue, this uplifting tale lays bare truths of the heart with a funny, tender touch.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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