Be Frank With Me

Reclusive literary legend M. M. “Mimi” Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years, but now she’s writing her first book in decades and to ensure timely completion her publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress. Mimi reluctantly complies—with a few stipulations: No Ivy Leaguers or English majors. Must drive, cook, tidy. Computer whiz. Good with kids. Quiet, discreet, sane.

When Alice Whitley arrives at the Banning mansion, she’s put to work right away—as a full-time companion to Frank, the writer’s eccentric nine-year-old, a boy with the wit of Noël Coward, the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star, and very little in common with his fellow fourth graders.

As she gets to know Frank, Alice becomes consumed with finding out who his father is, how his gorgeous “piano teacher and itinerant male role model” Xander fits into the Banning family equation—and whether Mimi will ever finish that book.

Full of heart and countless only-in-Hollywood moments, Be Frank With Me is a captivating and heartwarming story of an unusual mother and son, and the intrepid young woman who finds herself irresistibly pulled into their unforgettable world.


Frank. Is. Fantastic. I just absolutely love him. He's one of those really literary kids that I find charming, but very well may drive me up the wall if he was my own child. (Side story!: I remember one time, back when I was working at Coles, I said to a coworker I would love to have a kid like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. After having my own kids, I recant any such statement) Now I realize as wonderfully clever as he is, he's not exactly a parent's dream child. Frank is one of those kids that I think MANY adults would appreciate, but who's charms are lost on other children. It's really unfortunate. 

I wasn't really a big fan of any other characters in the book. (I thought of his mom like a young Harper Lee, but didn't really like her anyway) Any parts of the story that didn't involve Frank I was relatively unconcerned with, but Frank was never far, and often was the topic of conversation.

This novel is very much in the style of The Rosie Project, but the plot and characters are extremely different from Simsion's. My guess is if you liked The Rosie Project, you will like this one as well.