Customer Reviews

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Preston's Frankie Pratt is really a new kind of reading experience, an almost visceral involvement in a coming-of-age story through the images and objects selected by the heroine for inclusion in her scrapbook. As I turned the pages, I recognized that I was becoming strangely immersed in Frankie's life and the world of the 20's. I loved it and admired the way Preston balanced text with images, always the one contributing to the other. The first time I read it very quickly, but it now sits on a table close at hand and I find myself picking it up again and again, noticing details I missed the first time. One page is almost entirely tickets for rides at Coney Island; just reading the names of the rides brought that world to life for me.

It would be a wonderful gift for almost anyone: a fan of the 20's, people who love to read of the trials and triumphs of youth, teenagers (even boys), scrapbookers, and perhaps most surprisingly, scholars of the period or of ephemera and material culture.

Just finished reading Caroline Preston's wonderful new novel, The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt. The plot, set in the twenties, focuses on Frankie's love life-- and it's a page-turner! At the same time, the authentic scrapbook memorabilia gives the novel an historical dimension that engages the reader on many other levels. The stunning visual details add layer upon layer of texture to every page. Revel in the gorgeous graphics--they shine wisely on a period in history for which nostalgia is de rigueur.

The 411:

In my opinion this was a sweet, fun, witty take on a novel. It was so much fun to scan all the photos on the page as I read the story of Frankie. Frankie is definitely a character you won't soon forget. When we meet her she is a fun loving, nice girl who us accepted at Vassar College but because of the price, she tells her mother she will not go instead she will work and save to become a nurse as her mother did. She knows her mother doesn't have the money to send her and doesn't want to burden her mom.

She takes a job as a nursemaid "babysitter" for an elderly woman but when the woman's grown son makes advances Frankie's mother does what any mother would do and gets them to write a check out to send Frankie to Vassar.

On a college scholarship, Frankie attends a prestigious school and matures. I loved the book and would love to hear more about Frankie. The photos of the memorabilia surrounding and enhancing the story forces me to remember how much I loved scrapbooking and I wish I had time to pull them out right now to look at them. Wonderful story and a great way to read. I always use the philosophy with my social media clients, "if there is a picture attached, they will read it! Quick read! Very well done! Can't wait for the next one

I hate to be the nay sayer here, but I was expecting to be delighted and enchanted by a novel told as a scrapbook, using vintage ephemera. I found the language to be middle school level at best, the narrative disjointed and a bit juvenile. It was fun to look at for a few pages until the story and the visuals lost me. I give three stars for very good intentions, but I hope the author can present something more sophisticated and with more depth in her next effort.

This fascinating book exemplifies something vital about women's lives and how they come down to us through the centuries. Their "stories" are typically conveyed, not through heroic or historical narratives, but through everyday material culture -- things woven, sewn, embroidered, stitched, hooked, painted, quilted, and, yes, scrapped together. This is true of ordinary men, too -- but perhaps more so for women who, until the 20th century, weren't allowed a role in public life and were limited in their modes of self-expression to the "domestic arts."

The scrapbook form reminds me of quiltmaking, in which something organized and aesthetically satisfying is made out of the material of everyday life. Scrapbooks are the preserve of the memento, the souvenir, the bulletin, the concert ticket, the dried flower, the advertisement, the matchbook, the cheap trinket, the brief note. It is a rich domain, indeed, full of symbols and signs, and susceptible to all kinds of philosophizing on how we memorialize ourselves and compose our life stories.

Frankie's story is especially interesting because she is attempting to make a new kind of life -- to be a writer and have adventures and live by her own lights. The scrapbook reflects this work of self-creation, and her story is buoyant and engaging and very satisfying. My only caveat is that the ending Preston imagines for her seems rather conventional, compared to what comes before. Frankie will marry a doctor and settle down and have a family while (presumably) continuing to write. Still, she has already broken out of the conventional storyline for a young woman of her time, and we can hope she will continue to forge a different path.

As a physical object, the book is sheer delight. For "vintage" collectors and flea-market fanatics and ephemera-lovers like myself, it is like a ticket to paradise. The Horn & Hardart spoon is my favorite item... or is it the Crackerjack charm bracelet? Oh, I can't decide...

Received this book tonight in the mail and sat down to preview it for our bookclub. Before I knew it I was hooked on the format and the story line and couldn't pull myself away, ended up reading the entire book in one sitting.
If you love a vintage look and a love story and a coming of age story this book is a good fit. Strong main character voice, funny and transparent at times. The ending may be a bit predictable but maybe that was what was expected in the 1920-30's. I enjoyed thinking of my grandmother who would have been about Frankie's age and she loved to take pictures and scrapbook her memories too. Would have given 5 stars if the story line was longer or more lines of text, this kept me hoping for more.
I would recommend this book as a unique genre, if you keep finding yourself reading the same type of fiction this is a VERY welcome change. Also, felt a bit like a graphic novel!

What an original, clever idea! Ms. Preston uses photographs and other memorabilia not only to tell her story but also to evoke the feel of 1920's New York and Paris. Using very few words, she also shows what it was like to come of age in small-town New England and at Vassar.
I enjoyed it very much.

This book is a book to be treasured! The story is wonderful and the way the story is told is fresh and new, at least to this reader. Caroline Preston tells us the story of Frankie Pratt through Frankie's scrapbook. At first I was afraid I would miss out on the story not being told in the traditional way one writes a story, through words. I was afraid I would get lost or miss out on something in the scrapbook. I need not worry. I caught on right away and before I knew it, I had read the whole book...in one sitting! The only thing that made me sad in this book, was turning the last page! I wanted it to go on and on!

In 1920, Frankie Pratt receives a scrapbook for her high school graduation, from her mother. Frankie dreams of being a writer but when circumstances force her to turn down a college scholarship, her dreams are set aside. Frankie keeps us updated on her life through her scrapbook. She uses her father's typewriter and her memorabilia to tell us her story. I found each and every page interesting. There are ticket stubs, newspaper articles, advertisements, postcards and so much more. On one page there were cards from a card game called The Authors card game by Walt Whitman. We had the same card game growing up, so it brought back great memories for me!

The story itself kept me reading. I had to know what happened to Frankie next. Her life is not always easy but she manages to rise above it all. Frankie finds her way into the reader's heart. She finds love, experiences scandal, travels abroad and through it all, Frankie grows as a person.

This is a book unlike any other! It is a book you will want to keep on your bookshelf to read again and again! There are delightful surprises on every page! This is a book not to be missed!

What if you'd discovered your small-town New England great grandmother's scrapbook and in it found that her life was much more interesting than you could ever have imagined? She had sex before marriage! She saw her boyfriend kiss his boyfriend! She went to Vassar on scholarship then to Paris (third class Cunard, 90 clams) burning to be a writer! If you have ever been a fan of romance comics (which, speech bubble sigh, ceased publication in 1975), coupled with an aching wish you'd done a year abroad in Paris in the 1920s, you must hold this book, illustrated with delicious ephemera, in your hands in front of your face. No Nooky, no Kindle. Buy this scrapbook.

"The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt", by Caroline Preston, is a transcendent work of art. It is a short novel illustrated by scrapbook memorabilia and delicious drawings from its time period, the Roaring Twenties. The seamless combination of life in small town New England, a Seven Sisters college campus, an ocean liner and the 1920s literary scene in Hemingway's/Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris is poignant and told with poetic intensity and brevity. "Frankie Pratt" stands as an easy, loving, time-travelling companion to "The Great Gatsby" Magic has been achieved.

The encounter of Frankie Pratt with the James Joyce / "Ulysses" phenomenon in Paris is scintillating, brilliant and concise and deep. Caroline Preston has captured the essence of the Joyce experience in only a few pages.

This short, beautifully illustrated story would be a wonderful Holiday gift for men, women, teens, millennials, and especially older people who may have some direct family connection to the wonderful array of cultural artifacts from the 1920s. This book brings the 1920s to life! This is a story for adventure lovers, lit lovers and just plain lovers. It would have special significance for strong young women seeking independence and discovery of new worlds of culture, friendship and romance.