When Franny Stands Up
A Novel
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Named a Best Book of the Month by Bustle and Buzzfeed!
Named one of the best books of 2022 by Chicago Reader and All About Romance!
As praised by Book Riot, Autostraddle, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and more!
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel meets A League of Their Own in this inspiring story Buzzfeed calls "a warm hug of a novel."
Franny Steinberg knows there’s powerful magic in laughter. She’s witnessed it. With the men of Chicago off fighting WWII on distant shores, Franny has watched the women of the city taking charge of the war effort. But amidst the war bond sales and factory shifts, something surprising has emerged, something Franny could never have expected. A new marvel that has women flocking to comedy clubs across the nation: the Showstopper.
When Franny steps into Chicago’s Blue Moon comedy club, she realizes the power of a Showstopper—that specific magic sparked when an audience laughs so hard, they are momentarily transformed. And while each comedian’s Showstopper is different, they all have one thing in common: they only work on women.
After a traumatic flashback propels her onstage in a torn bridesmaid dress, Franny discovers her own Showstopper is something new. And suddenly she has the power to change everything…for herself, for her audience, and for the people who may need it most.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Robins's smart and nuanced debut, a stand-up comedian draws inspiration from her pain in 1940s Chicago. After Franny Steinberg catches a female comic's set at the Blue Moon comedy club, she wants nothing more than to launch a stand-up career of her own. But that's a lofty goal in postwar Chicago, where she's expected to get married and have children. After fits and starts, Franny transforms into stand-up comedian Peggy Blake, determined to find humor in her brother's trauma as a POW during WWII and her own rape by a close family friend: "My twenty-first birthday, a family friend decided to make a woman out of me.... He had his finger blown off in the war—and by the end of the night, I wished he had lost... a different appendage. Sadly, they don't call him Peter for nothing." Robins overlays her convincing illustration of mid-century social repression of women with a stirring portrayal of Franny, who succeeds because of her willingness to speak frankly about taboo subjects. Supporting characters, especially fellow comics Hal and Boopsie, add texture. Readers will fall in love with this one.
