Additional information
by Carlene Bauer (Author)
Frances and Bernard meet in the summer of 1957. Afterward, he writes her a letter. Soon they are immersed in the kind of fast, deep friendship that can change the course of our lives.
They find their way to New York and, for a few whirling years, each other. The city is a wonderland for young people with dreams: cramped West Village kitchens, parties stocked with the sharp-witted and glamorous, taxis that can take you anywhere at all, long talks along the Hudson as the lights of the Empire State Building blink on above.Inspired by the lives of Flannery O'Connor and Robert Lowell, Frances and Bernard imagines, through new characters with charms entirely their own, what else might have happened. In the grandness of the fall, can we love another person so completely that we lose our dreams?In witness to all the wonder of kindred spirits and bittersweet romance, Frances and Bernard is a tribute to the power of friendship and the people who help us discover who we are.Back Jacket
A "New York Times Book Review "Editors Choice"A small gem, reflecting the rare joy of finding someone who is, quixotically, counterintuitively and completely, yours." "More""A moving tale about kindred spirits." "People," three starsFrances and Bernard meet in the summer of 1957. Afterward, he writes her a letter. Soon they are immersed in the kind of fast, deep friendship that can change the course of our lives.They find their way to New York and, for a few whirling years, each other. The city is a wonderland for young people with dreams: cramped West Village kitchens, parties stocked with the sharp-witted and glamorous, taxis that can take you anywhere at all, long talks along the Hudson as the lights of the Empire State Building blink on above.Inspired by the lives of Flannery O Connor and Robert Lowell, "Frances and Bernard" imagines, through new characters with charms entirely their own, what else might have happened. In the grandness of the fall, can we love another person so completely that we lose our dreams?In witness to all the wonder of kindred spirits and bittersweet romance, "Frances and Bernard" is a tribute to the power of friendship and the people who help us discover who we are."The perfect confection." " Pittsburgh Post-Gazette""A story of conversion, shattered love and the loss of faith, recalling twentieth-century masters like Graham Greene and Walker Percy." " New York Times Book Review"Carlene Bauer s memoir, "Not That Kind of Girl, "was described as "soulful" by Walter Kirn and "approaching the greatness of Cantwell" in the "New York Post." Her work has appeared in "n+1, " "Slate, " "Salon, " "Elle, " and the "New York Times."
Author photograph (c) Justin LaneMarinerwww.marinerbooks.com$14.95ISBN 978-0-544-10517-1Fiction0114/1540824"
