Frankie

Damian, a young Irish caretaker living in London, is assigned to a new client, 84-year-old Frances "Frankie" Howe, who is recovering from a broken ankle in her Wapping flat. He is greeted by Frankie's stylish friend, Nor Forrester, who warns him that Frankie is cranky and withdrawn, which Damian finds to be true. His mention of being from Mallow in County Cork, near a place called Stranach, a name that clearly holds significance for her, sparks a visible emotional reaction. Over subsequent visits, Frankie gradually opens up and begins to tell him her life story.

The narrative flashes back to Ireland in 1950. Ten-year-old Frances Howe's parents drown when their car drives off a pier. Orphaned, she is sent to live with her mother's sister, Mona, and her husband, the stern Reverend Derek Roper. Frances grows up in their joyless rectory, finding her only comfort in a close friendship with Norah Dean, whose family provides the warmth her own home lacks. After Norah moves to London, Frances excels at a cookery course in Cork. At eighteen, her guardians arrange her marriage to Canon Alan Frost, an older widower. Feeling she has no choice, eighteen-year-old Frances agrees. Her unhappy, unconsummated marriage to the older Canon Alan Frost collapses after she discovers his affair and is then falsely accused of her own.

While delivering goods for the parish, Frances gets lost and meets John O'Sullivan, a handsome Catholic farmer. They share an immediate, powerful attraction. After a few intense encounters, including passionate kisses at his cottage, John insists their relationship is too dangerous and sends her away. A parishioner sees them in an embrace and reports it to Alan, who furiously accuses Frances of fornicating with some farmhand. He renounces her and orders her out of the house. Her aunt and uncle arrive to take her away in disgrace.

Back in the present, Frankie tells Damian that Norah's mother paid for her passage to London. The story returns to 1958, when Frankie arrives at the Pimlico flat of her old friend, who now goes by Nor and has adopted a sophisticated English persona. Nor takes Frankie to a party hosted by Van Everden, a charismatic literary agent, where Frankie is shocked to realize it is a gathering of lesbians. Van takes an immediate liking to Frankie and offers her a job as her assistant. Frankie excels at the work, but Nor warns her that Van has romantic feelings for her, revealing that Van fired her previous assistant, who was also her girlfriend, the moment Frankie arrived.

In 1960, Van invites Frankie on a work trip to New York. During a weekend party at the home of Broadway star Katharine "Kit" Cornell, another guest makes a sexual advance toward Frankie. Van discovers them and, in a jealous rage, abandons Frankie upstate with only fifty dollars. Kit's driver, a handsome young artist named Joe Haffen, is sent to find Frankie. He reveals Van has also checked her out of their hotel. Joe takes pity on Frankie and brings her to the Greenwich Village apartment he shares with his sister, Betty. Frankie is captivated by Joe and his art, which covers the apartment in fantastical murals, and they quickly fall in love.

Less than two weeks later, Frankie and Joe get married at City Hall. Frankie gets a job at a small French restaurant, La Petite Pomme, where the owner, Madame Barre, becomes her mentor. When Madame Barre dies, she leaves the restaurant to Frankie. Frankie renames it Pomme and has Joe redecorate the interior with his murals. The restaurant becomes a huge success. Soon after, Joe's art is discovered by influential gallery owner Leo Castelli, launching him to fame. Their success allows them to buy a large loft on Spring Street, which becomes a social hub for the New York art scene. They acquire a significant collection of art from their friends, which decorates the loft's walls.

Joe's fame changes him, and he becomes arrogant and distant. He begins an affair with his ambitious new manager, Gretchen Schmidt. Joe confesses the affair only after Gretchen becomes pregnant, and he leaves Frankie. Soon after, the AIDS crisis devastates their community. Frankie's closest confidante, the restaurant manager Wendell, and other staff members die, leaving her heartbroken. Years later, Gretchen informs Frankie that Joe is dying of cancer. When Frankie visits him in the hospital, she is horrified to see he is actually dying of AIDS, a truth Gretchen is determined to conceal. Joe dies, and his death is publicly attributed to cancer.

After Joe's death, Gretchen discovers that Frankie's first marriage to Canon Frost was never legally dissolved and blackmails her: turn over the valuable art collection Joe had gifted her, or be exposed as a bigamist and deported. Frankie's lawyer confirms she has no legal recourse. Nor, who has since moved to New York with her husband Teddy, devises a plan to smuggle Frankie's art collection to London in a shipping container and uses a contact at the Irish embassy to secure her a temporary Irish passport. Frankie flees New York. She had already closed Pomme after Joe's death, and she later donates its unique interior to the Whitney Museum.

The narrative returns to the present day. Sometime after Damian's final shift, Nor calls to inform him that Frankie died a month earlier from a blood clot. Nor gives Damian a portfolio Frankie left for him, which contains photos of her and Joe, a menu from Pomme, and a valuable drawing by a famous artist. Nor reveals that Frankie left the rest of the art collection to Joe's son, Luca. In a moment of vulnerability, Nor confesses that in losing Frankie, she has lost the love of her life. Two months later, Damian attends the Christie's auction of The Collection of Frances Howe. The final piece is the only known portrait Joe Haffen ever painted: a luminous, loving depiction of a young, naked, and laughing Frankie. Damian weeps, seeing his friend finally receiving the attention she deserved.