Frank et Billy

by Laurie Colwin, Élishéva Marciano (Translator)

Laurie Colwin, auteur fétiche du New Yorker, écrit dans une prose minimaliste où la vie ressemble aux films en super 8. Le quotidien, pour un instant, s'anime devant nous et devient une aventure extraordinaire, drôle et tellement merveilleuse...

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Romance, Literary Fiction, Classics, Contemporary, Novels

188 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published September 10, 2003

About the author

Laurie Colwin is the author of five novels: Happy All the Time, Family Happiness, Goodbye Without Leaving, Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object, and A Big Storm Knocked It Over; three collections of short stories: Passion and Affect, Another Marvelous Thing, and The Lone Pilgrim; and two collections of essays: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking. She died in 1992.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

welcome to my becoming-a-genius project, part 30...point three?

two things to know:
1) i have this project where i read a story a day from the collected works of an author, with the aim of achieving supreme intelligence.
2) i love laurie colwin and am scared of finishing her books.

i'm doing a classic 2-in-1 by reading all of colwin's short stories. it's important to face your fears.

anyway a laurie colwin book is a marvelous thing.

read previous projects here


DAY ONE: MY MISTRESS
the downside of doing this whole reading back-to-back thing is you can tell very clearly when two stories are quite similar. this one is at least better.
rating: 4


DAY TWO: FRANK AND BILLY
well, as it turns out that would happen either way, because this follows the same characters through the same events as the last one. and somehow i STILL enjoyed it. witchcraft.
rating: 4


DAY THREE: FRENCH MOVIE
okay. same characters. slightly different events. still i like it. now i feel like i'm going insane.
rating: 3.5


DAY FOUR: A LITTLE SOMETHING
four days is how long it took me to start questioning and actually read the synopsis. turns out all of these stories are about the same characters, so now i'm extra wondering why they are in no particularly order or of unique setup.
rating: 3.5



DAY FIVE: SWAN SONG
five days is how long it took me to stop really enjoying the sameness.
rating: 3


DAY SIX: A COUNTRY WEDDING
to catch you up, all of these stories are about an older guy with a perfect wife and family (francis) and a sloppily dressed younger also married woman (billy) having an affair. in every single one, billy expresses concerns and regrets and francis is very into it. this is the first one that has slightly broken the mold, and i can only hope billy sticks with this particular breakup, because otherwise i'm at risk of hating them both instead of just gross old francis.
rating: 4


DAY SEVEN: ANOTHER MARVELOUS THING
for the first time in possibly my life, i'm not wholeheartedly excited to reach the title story in a collection. i'm nervous the marvel in question is an adulterous reunion.\

never mind. it was about having a baby and it really was marvelous. i've never been so pleased to be totally wrong.
rating: 4.5


DAY EIGHT: A COUPLE OF OLD FLAMES
hmmmm.
rating: 4


OVERALL
i really and truly with my whole heart hate this francis character, but it was more than made up for by how much i love billy and this writing and this world and the people in it and their charms and this story and and and.
rating: 4

[Julie G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This afternoon would be as if etched in glass: bright, hard, and clear.

I read a book review recently in which the reader declared that they “no longer read novels that have stories of infidelity in them,” because they are “immoral.”

Hmm. This is a new one for me.

I understand triggers. Like, even though a story is fictional, scenes of abuse or rape can still be incredibly triggering to a reader. . . but “immoral?”

I had no idea we were all such great moralists. Is this what we do now? Have we run out of actual people to judge?

What's next, an author being brought on criminal charges for a fictional murder??

I don't get any of this. I was under the impression that we all go into this business of reading novels understanding that we are intentionally being immersed into worlds that aren't real. Well, don't we?

Well, I sure as hell do, and, to be honest, I've been so damned moral, I've spent most of my life like Hermione Granger on uppers (and I fucking regret it, to be honest).

I've been so damned squeaky clean, I GO OUT OF MY WAY TO READ ABOUT INFIDELITY.

And then some.

So. . . here's a warning to all of the great moralists: this entire novel is about an extramarital affair.

AND IT IS SO, SO, SO, SO, SO DAMNED GOOD.

It's right up there (for me) with some of the best books ever written on the topic of fictional adultery: Updike's THE MAPLES STORIES, Atwood's THE BLIND ASSASSIN, Graham's THE END OF THE AFFAIR, Flaubert's MADAME BOVARY, Tolstoy's ANNA KARENINA.

It's officially my new favorite Laurie Colwin, and I wasn't sure that any of her work would surpass HAPPY ALL THE TIME.

Once again, I flipped to the back jacket of the cover, and saw Ms. Colwin's photo from 1985 and, boy, did it make my brown eyes blue.

I also made the mistake of reading a delicate scene in the waiting room of a doctor's office, and before I could get a handle on myself, I choked, gasped and sputtered in an awkward public display.

I don't recommend reading this in public, but I do recommend reading it.

Unless you're one of the great moralists of fictional behavior.

[Zoeytron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A love affair between a cultured older man and a younger woman who cares nothing for the niceties that appeal so much to the man.  A total mismatch, with the exception of matters of the heart.  Nevermind that both of these individuals are married.  I had trouble warming up to the man, but the woman's innate grouchiness was fun.  Thoughts of special moments shared, memories to be recalled.  Recollections playing out "as enduring and specific as a piece of music".  Although I enjoyed the writing style, I will file this under the heading of liked it, didn't love it.  Wish I could have felt a bit more invested in the characters.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's so much noise out there in the book world. So many books, and so many authors clamouring to land on top of the pile.

Sadly, the noisiest ones, and the ones that land on top, are often not at all interesting to me.

This wonderful novel is not at all noisy, and I wouldn't have found it if not for my friend Julie's exuberant review. THANK YOU, JULIE.

Laurie Colwin's novel, comprised of 8 short stories that follow the same two characters, is a tremendous creation. It's about two people who are in love, but who are married to other people (so moralists, saints, or readers who need the actions of fictional characters to line up with their own personal code of ethics need not apply here).

The couple in question do not have horns growing out of their temples nor are they sex fiends. Colwin does an excellent job of writing about two people in love, and in very unfortunate and soul-destroying circumstances. She captures the complexity so well. The way that the lovers are drawn to each other, but in a very unglamorous relationship. How the affair is portrayed as passionate, but also quite lonely. The fact that it's painfully untenable, but at the same time mysterious and alive.

Colwin's language is spare and unsentimental (my favourite!), but she gets deep into the human experience. For fans of The Maples Stories, here's another marvellous thing (see what I did there?).

I for one am thrilled to make some noise about a deserving book like this!

[Antoinette · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

This book is about an affair between Billy and Frances (Frank). Both are married to partners they profess to love. I felt Billy’s love for her husband, Grey, more than I felt Frances’ for his wife, Vera. The big question for me was why? If you love your spouse so much, why would you risk everything by having an affair? What was missing from this book was the element of danger. Frances went to Billy’s place most afternoons for some afternoon delight. There was no worry that a neighbour might notice and say anything. There never seemed any chance of their getting caught. No one seemed the wiser. How is that possible when this affair went on for 2 years?

When I finished this book, I wondered what Laurie Colwin wanted me to take away from it. Did she want me to realize that sometimes, even when you are in love with your spouse, someone could come along and you could fall in love with that person as well?

The two main people- did I care for them? Definitely a no when it comes to Frances.
“ Frances considered himself an excellent husband. He fetched his wife’s luggage, picked her up from the airport and carried her thence, drew her bath when she was tired, weather-stripped the bedroom windows, saw to her investments, gave financial advice to members of her family, was moderate in his habits and, in general, was a cheering sort of companion.”
Definitely my ideal husband!!! Haha. Billy is not his first dalliance, although she seems to be the first he falls in love with.

Billy, I liked more. At least she felt some guilt at their situation. She knew that it was ruining her life. Frances and Billy were so opposite to each other. We know from the blurb that there will be an end to this affair- what brought them to that ending and the aftermath?

This is my third book by Colwin that I have read over the past year. I love her writing. Her prose is clear and insightful. Overall though, this book rather depressed me. How can marriages succeed if even when there is true love, there can be the possibility of an affair and it’s acceptable? This book made me question what love is and how as a people, we all regard it differently. I think this would be an excellent book for a book group discussion. At only 129 pages, it certainly put me through a gamut of emotions!

I definitely recommend this author, but I would start with Happy All the Time!

Published: 1986

[Katie]

Laurie Colwin should be exponentially more famous than she is.

[Ebba Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have finished reading this last night and I feel a bit depressed because I did not want the stories to end and there is no other book that is good in such a way. Maybe only another Laurie Colwin.

Proper review will follow.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her book Another Marvelous Thing Laurie Colwin intertwines eight short stories featuring Francis Clemens (Frank) and Josephine Delielle (Billy) to bring their story to life. These two mismatched souls are married to compatible spouses. How do they end up in an extramarital affair that lasts two years? What holds them together? And what ultimately ends their relationship?

Colwin subtly explores the vulnerability of contentment and how different individuals cope with moral ambiguity. Colwin's writing is elegant and assured, and her characters are complex and nuanced. I appreciate her insightful look into these two human hearts.

Publication 1986

[Betsy Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is called “short stories,” but really it’s a novel in chapters with story titles.

Married people suffered and rejoiced over and over and over and over again. Marriage was a trench dug by time, a straight furrow, the mighty oak that has grown year after year after year from a tiny acorn. Lovers were, by comparison, little scratches in the ground. (76)

This is the chapters of a little-scratches-in-the-ground relationship—an affair between two people who are married to other people: Francis (a man) and Billy (a much younger woman).

The first six stories/chapters were at times flippant, shallow, kind of a British rom-com, even though Laurie Colwin (1944–1992) was American and the story takes place in the USA, with references to a childhood in London. But there is a lot going on under the surface. Then comes story/chapter 7, the title story about the birth of a child and, my god, the book explodes in a pulse. The build was worth waiting for. Finally you get to feel under the skin of Billy, who until then has felt like a mystery covered by a shell.

This is quiet, skillful writing.

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delicious, short book just added to all the reasons I heart Laurie Colwin! It contains eight linked short stories, all about an affair between Francis Clemons and Billy Delielle. Francis and Billy are about as opposite as can be, proving yet again that opposites not only attract, but make for engaging stories. These stories look at the affair from different perspectives during their time together, and at first, I wondered if I could enjoy reading story after story about the same thing. But I forgot who I was reading! In Colwin's deft hands, she makes each story uniquely interesting and memorable and whet's the appetite for what Francis's and Billy's fate will be. Indeed, Colwin often has one or both remark at how certain episodes in their affair will be lodged in their memory long after their affair ends, because face it, it will end at some point. After all, they are both married to other people with whom they're very compatible. With Colwin's superb writing and storytelling, Francis and Billy are etched in my memory as well!

P.S. Did I mention how much I love the cover of this recent reissue?!!

Why I'm reading this: I love Laurie Colwin and after seeing friend Julie G.'s review and the great conversation in the comments, I knew I must get to this sooner rather than later.

[el · Rating 5 out of 5]

this does not qualify as a romance by modern standards, but it is written and treats its characters exactly as i prefer my romances. 4.5/5. rtc.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Laurie Colwin, but not this particular book. The affair between Billy and Francis was boring to read about, and I never got the attraction between these two polar opposites. Francis was just an obnoxious snob, and Billy was not an appealing character either. Some great one-liners, but I was happy this was so short (130 pages).

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laurie Colwin....her writing is timeless. I so enjoyed this slim book of connected short stories, all featuring Billie and Frank and their disturbing, wonderful, awful, guilt packed affair of two years. Laurie hits the mark with her descriptions of how torn these two love birds are (Billie more so than Frank). And the story of the birth of Billie's child is something any mother will love. This book is a special treat!

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the third Colwin book I've read. I embarked on reading her books because I loved Happy All the Time. However, I am disappointed so far in her other books. I found this one to be very mediocre. There were a few problems with this book, I think. The main one is that there was something uneven about the arc of the story. Most of the stories were redundant descriptions of the affair between Frank and Billy, but then all of a sudden, the story shifted into the life and perspective of Billy. I think the whole book actually should have been one short story about the affair. My other complaint is about the character development: Billy is so mean to Frank (every word out of her mouth is sarcastic or demeaning) that I found it hard to believe he would be so devoted to her. And I also found it hard to believe that Billy would be able to move on to a relatively happy and stable relationship with her husband with this huge secret between them. In any case, there was something that kept me reading -- something about the mood and the language that was moving -- so I am giving it two stars rather than one.

[Derek Driggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, funny, human, vibey. Colwin is the kind of writer that can write stressful situations in a way that is somehow calming.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A love affair was another amazing product of human ingeniousness, like art, like scholarship, like architecture. It was a created thing with rules, language, and reference. When it was finished it lived on in its artifacts: a million memories and gestures."

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

I'm amazed to have only just even heard of Laurie Colwin - appropriately described as the Barbara Pym of 70s New York.

I really, really enjoyed this. It's got all the makings of a smart and witty Nora Ephron rom-com, you could even say like an 80s Sally Rooney, and could easily be for fans of Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Strout.

The story follows Billy and Francis who are in love and happily married, but to other people. They are embarking on an affair that they know feels so right and yet so simultaneously wrong. Billy is a slightly cold, level-headed character. She's not interested in fashion, parties or nice restaurant meals. Francis on the other hand is older, sophisticated, and stylish. They are both totally opposites and yet can't deny that what they feel for each other is love, at the expense of their marriages to Vera and Grey. They meet regularly at Billy's place, making love on the sofa in her little study when Grey is away, or meeting in the kinds of shady looking restaurants they would never normally go to, for fear of being seen.

It's a very claustrophobic look at a relationship. Most of the novel centres around Billy and Francis and their relationship. Until the second quarter, where it takes some surprising turns, giving the novel another level, elevating it beyond just a simple rom-com. The novel is very much about the experiences we have in life and the people we give ourselves to that make us who we are. But also about how we are so much more than the defined roles we give to ourselves, and ultimately how little you can really truly know someone. There will always be parts of ourselves we choose to keep hidden.

I can't wait to read more Laurie Colwin that's for sure.

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a love affair. My inclination is to call it, ill-matched, but it made me think that the destiny of many love stories is a seeming mismatch. The matching for an affair is, after all, chemistry.

Colwin's narrative style is immersive and this novella is a series of immersive dips into Frank and Billy's liaison over time. We have two voices but one is first person and the other third person, which weights the readers' perspective. The writing skills mask this so cleverly that whilst I did not exactly love the story, I did love reading it.

I should confess a soft spot for Colwin especially her food writing so this was a pleasure!

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect.

[Mary McBride · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Vada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply marvellous!

Big thank you to Iman who chose this for me in Book Bar.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book while dusting the shelves in the living room over the weekend and remembered how I bought it for the gorgeous cover--a detailed view of a bird's nest and laurel by Thomas Charles Bale. Eventually I read it (sometime in 1995, my year alone in my first house) and while I remember loving this book of connected short stories, what I most recall was adoring the first sentence of the first story: "My wife is precise, elegant, and well-dressed, but the sloppiness of my mistress knows few bounds."

With this one sentence, I became a fan of Laurie Colwin's and have since acquired every one of her books--fiction and nonfiction--and read most of them. (I have spaced them out, as there aren't that many; she died, way too soon and too young, in 1992.)

[Lydia Goddard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the ending I was expecting from the description. Pretty good, but eh, just ok.

[Eleanor]

I find Colwin hard to write about. She’s one of those authors who does what seems like perfectly ordinary magic. This short novel is about an extra-marital affair between people who, on the face of things, seem extremely ill-suited: fastidious, sophisticated Francis and slovenly, acerbic Billy (whose real name is Josephine, although no one calls her that except for her best friend’s imposing grandma). It’s brief and narrated through vignettes; we have to infer the connecting tissue of time, and sometimes of events, between each little chapter. Francis and Billy never consider leaving their spouses, whom they genuinely love, and they break up partway through the book. But the affair matters deeply to both of them, and the surprising poignancy of Another Marvelous Thing is the subtlety with which it shows that. No one gets histrionic here, and in fact mostly everyone is grumpy to everyone else, but the grumpiness is about hiding pain. Some of these chapters make perfect standalone short stories. Billy’s best friend’s wedding is one such, when the two women escape the reception temporarily and row out to an island in the ornamental lake to sneak cigarettes. The birth of Billy’s child is another; in fact that one is where the novel’s emotional centre lies, I think, where you get to see Billy in her sincerity for once, even as she keeps quipping. Her relationship with the nurse who attends her for her C-section is particularly winning. I don’t know, just try Colwin.

[Satwik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extra-marital affairs have always been a controversial subject, but the way this book captures the mundaneness of an illicit relationship is outstanding.

However, the book is not really about adultery rather, it is about loneliness, human connection, and emotional refuge.

The comparison of such a relationship with that between a newborn child and a mother is not only brave but also beautiful.

The book might make you a little uncomfortable if you live in a world of black and white.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Shelf Life.

[penny mackett · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love laurie colwin

[Sophia · Rating 5 out of 5]

a quick scroll of what my friends are reading yields great fruit. the dialogue made me briefly embarrassed - i remember those searching, desperate questions in a worse part of my life. delicious and quick, no notes

[Stephanie Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt a bit like an overly-long short story that you might read in a literary magazine. It was unclear how Billie and Frank fit together, but surely any love affair is a mystery to everyone else not in it. 3.5 ⭐️

[Prriyankaa Singh | the.bookish.epicure · Rating 4 out of 5]

So often, itself the quiet tales more than the big bangers that make me nod along at odd moments like someone said aloud what I've secretly thought for years.

I thought this was going to be a quiet book about love and noticing the small, tender things. And it is. But then comes this extramarital relationship, and suddenly everything feels complicated. Messy. Human.

I thought there would be tension, maybe some edge of scandal hanging in the air, instead, it was all written with this sense of delight. The thrill was soft, like slipping into a secret that makes the world glow a little brighter.

I kept swinging between judgment and understanding. One page I’m thinking, how selfish are they?... how could they? And then two pages later I’m nodding because haven’t we all felt that tug at some point for something more that feels like it will wake us up again?

Frank and Vera’s love felt like something leaning on habit, maybe even a little brittle, whereas Billy’s love for Grey pulsed with a kind of urgency, the kind that makes you ache for her. Frank and Billy, weren't equal. How could they be others? And yet, their love was so real in a way that almost eclipsed everything else.

That contrast is what stuck with me. How love can feel so alive for one person, so utterly transformative, while for the other it’s just another chapter. It made me wonder: is love more marvelous when it’s mutual, or is it still marvelous when it burns more fiercely in just one heart?

What made me restless is this quiet examination of what it means to want more, to risk unraveling what you already have. It made me think about how we define love. Is it constancy? Is it the pursuit of feeling alive?

Cowlin doesn’t hand you answers. She leaves you with questions and a reminder that even in the mess and in heartbreak, life can still be a marvelous thing.