The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures - Hardcover

"Impossible to crack open the book without wanting to devour it... a tale of the Roaring `20s illustrated in the dazzling language of trinkets and baubles... the kind of visual candy that coffee tables were designed to showcase." -- NPR.org "The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt" is a retro delight. Meticulously assembled and designed by the author from her own huge collection of memorabilia, it turns scrapbooking into a literary art form. Fans of the Roaring '20s, Nick Bantock and modernism will all find something of value in Preston's nostalgic ephemera." -- Washington Post "In her whimsical mash-up of historical fiction and scrapbooking, Caroline Preston uses vintage images and artifacts, paper ephemera and flapper-era souvenirs.... Apparently no junk shop or eBay seller was spared in Preston's search for ways to bring her fictional heroine to life." -- O, The Oprah Magazine, Lead Review "In THE SCRAPBOOK OF FRANKIE PRATT, Caroline Preston, a former archivist, pastes vintage postcards, Jazz Age ephemera and typewritten snippets into a sweetly beguiling novel about a New England girl who trades Vassar College for Greenwich Village on the advice of Edna St. Vincent Millay." -- New York Times Magazine "Every coat button, baseball card, or gramophone record seems to conduct electricity.... As a reader, you are enchanted with Frankie Pratt's life...because her life-so carefully constructed and so elegantly detailed-is not so different from our own." -- DoubleX "The epistolary novel is ages old, the Twitter novel a la mode, but...The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt-to my knowledge-is the first scrapbook novel....[A] charming and transporting story, a collage of vintage memorabilia...and other ephemera depicts the adventures of an aspiring flapper-era writer." -- VanityFair.com "An American (flapper) in Paris: Le Dome cafe, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and l'amour all show up in scrapbook form in this novel." -- AARP.org "The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston is for those who love history, strong young women, and unusual story-telling." -- Examiner.com "Somehow, Preston manages to make this scene feel fresh--partly because [this] really is a scrapbook, each page composed of artifacts: advertisements, yearbook photos, ticket stubs, menus from the automat, and paper dolls modeling their finest... its vintage graphics and sweet, sincere storytelling make it a pure pleasure." -- Boston Globe "Literal, literary and lovely....Preston's book is a visual journey unlike any other novel out there right now....Can be devoured in the course of a pot of tea on a cold day [but] pick [it] up the next day just to look at the images." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Selecting from her own collection of period mementos, Preston (Gatsby's Girl, 2006, etc.) creates a literal scrapbook for a young New Hampshire woman coming of age in the 1920s. . . . .Lighter than lightweight but undeniably fun, largely because Preston is having so much fun herself." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "The vintage scrapbook is an effective vehicle for an entertaining coming-of-age story steeped in the pop culture of the Roaring Twenties. A highly enjoyable read well suited to historical romance fans and scrapbookers alike." -- Library Journal "THE SCRAPBOOK OF FRANKIE PRATT is like reading your favorite flapper great-aunt's diary. It's a ripping yarn of emancipated girlish adventure." -- Audrey Niffenegger "What an amazing, creative, funny, thoughtful dip into the life and times of the inimitable Frankie. I know I'll come back to Preston's wonderful creation time and again; for its color, warmth and whimsy. It's a very, very clever novel." -- Jacqueline Winspear "[H]ave I just read/experienced/devoured the most delightful book ever published? ....There is magic here and genius. I marveled at every page: at first, just the astonishing collection of souvenirs and memorabilia and then the story-so wry and smart and literary and historically fascinating." -- Elinor Lipman "A literary bottle rocket-loaded with whimsy, pizzazz and heart. The illustrations are compelling and original, and the prose is perfection in the hands of Caroline Preston.... I heartily recommend." -- Adriana Trigiani "I've been enjoying Caroline Preston's ingenious THE SCRAPBOOK OF FRANKIE PRATT, a novel made up entirely of vintage images. It's nifty and fun-[and] the plot moves along, too!" -- The Paris Review (blog)

"The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is a literary bottle rocket-loaded with whimsy, pizzazz, and heart." -Adriana Trigiani "Is it possible that I have just read/experienced/devoured the most delightful book ever published? Do not argue with me: There is magic here and genius." -Elinor Lipman "A ripping yarn of emancipated girlish adventure." -Audrey Niffenegger The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is a visually stunning, totally unique, full-color novel in the form of a scrapbook, set in the burgeoning bohemian culture of the 1920s and featuring an endearing, unforgettable heroine. Caroline Preston, author of the New York Times Notable Book Jackie by Josie, uses a kaleidoscopic array of vintage memorabilia-postcards, letters, magazine ads, ticket stubs, catalog pages, fabric swatches, candy wrappers, fashion spreads, menus and more-to tell the tale of spirited and ambitious Frankie's remarkable odyssey from Vassar to Greenwich Village to Paris, in a manner that will delight crafters, historical fiction fans, and anyone who loves a good coming-of-age story ingeniously told.