3 out of 4 stars
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Can I be Frank? written by Rob Wyatt is fun and a quick read. The protagonist, Father Frank, is a young, anxious and awkward English priest who has been hired to lead a parish in far-away Florida due to a shortage of qualified candidates for the job. We follow Father Frank as he travels from England and navigates confusion at US Customs with an illicit pork pie from Fortnum and Mason. The pie was slipped into his suitcase by his worried mother who knows he might not be ready to leave the nest. Despite a series of mishaps, Father Frank somehow makes his way to his new home at Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Palmetto Lake.
Father Frank is a little clumsy and not very confident, but he wants to make a good impression and do a good job. His earnestness and lack of experience lead to plenty of amusing happenings. His quirky personality provides comic relief in contrast to the difficult, dangerous, and frightening situations that he sometimes encounters as he navigates culture clash and local politics in Palmetto Lake.
When Father Frank meets his co-workers, they sense an oddness about him but don’t realize he needs more help than he is able to ask for. Father Frank bumbles his way through a series of gaffes and disastrous incidents until he is able to find his support system and learn to lead the people of his parish.
Wyatt spends a lot of time on character development and establishes a variety of relationships for Father Frank. Can I be Frank? provides readers with a good introduction to this cast of characters and readers will want more stories about them in what should be an entertaining and uplifting book series.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. This would be a great beach read. Can I be Frank? offers humor, mystery and enough substance to deem it an edifying read. The pace is quick and lively. The writing is witty, optimistic, and light-hearted in tone. This is a book that people who are not religious can enjoy too. Wyatt does touch on failings condemned by critics of religion, and the Catholic church in particular. While Wyatt opens the door to that discussion, he doesn’t step all the way through it and I felt some of those issues deserved a just a little more time and balance, even though this story is about the experiences of a good-hearted and sincere priest.
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Can I Be Frank?
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