Book Review: When Franny Stands Up
In her raucous debut novel, Eden Robins takes us back to the Chicago comedy scene of the early ’50s, where women work magic through a microphone.
When Franny Stands Up
by Eden Robins
400 pp.
Sourcebooks Landmark
November 1, 2022
A caveat before I get to When Franny Stands Up, the debut fantasy novel by Chicago writer Eden Robins. Eden is a friend of mine. I met her something like twelve years ago, when I still lived in that windiest of cities. We were introduced by a mutual friend who brought a few of his favorite people together on a quick trip through town. It turned out Eden had attended the Clarion West Workshop a couple of years earlier. I’d gone to Clarion at Michigan State a couple-three decades earlier, so we had plenty to talk about.
About a year later, Eden and I started a small writers group, which evolved into one of the hubs of my working and social lives in Chicago. I read a lot of her work, I attended her wedding, met up with her and her husband in London during one of their many extended adventures across the globe. When I moved back to New York City, Eden took over my position as a co-host of the Tuesday Funk reading…
