Minding Frankie

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Minding Frankie
MindingFrankie.jpg
First edition
Author Maeve Binchy
Country Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
Language English
Genre Novel
Publisher Orion
Publication date
2010
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)

Minding Frankie is a 2010 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy.

Contents

Plot

Emily Lynch arrives from America to the fictional Dublin neighborhood of St. Jarlath Crescent and, in her encouraging and resourceful way, rehabilitates the lives of everyone she meets. The main plot line centers around her cousin, Noel, an alcoholic who still lives at home, who finds out from a dying girlfriend that she is expecting his baby that he doesn't remember conceiving. Noel accepts the challenge of single parenthood with the help of family and friends, including characters from previous Binchy novels Heart and Soul and Scarlet Feather . [1] [2]

Themes and topics

The teamwork involved in caring for the motherless girl named Frankie conveys the message that "everyone's life is better when individuals, communities and governments work together to care for those in trouble". [3]

Binchy has also invested this novel with contemporary topics not seen in her earlier novels set in the mid-20th century. These topics include: email, text messaging, redundancy, recession, addiction, cancer, and paternity testing. [4]

Adaptation

Shay Linehan, playwright-in-residence at the Irish Classical Theatre Company, adapted the novel for a 2017 play. [5] [6]

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References

  1. Toto, Christian (27 February 2011). "Review: "Minding Frankie" by Maeve Binchy". The Denver Post . Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  2. Deegan, Denise (23 October 2010). "Binchy's Reliable Recipe". The Irish Times . Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  3. Hopley, Claire (6 March 2011). "Book Review: 'Minding Frankie'". The Washington Times . Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  4. Kenny, Mary (23 October 2010). "Review: Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy". Irish Independent . Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  5. "Minding Frankie". Irish Classical Theatre Company. 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  6. Crawley, Peter (7 June 2017). "Minding Frankie: Maeve Binchy's bittersweet novel comes to the stage". The Irish Times. Retrieved 5 January 2019.