Frances, longing to gain more knowledge of her ancestors, searches her relatives old house. She stumbles across a musty, well used diary, but only to discover it's written in a strange language. Feeling rather lost, she takes the diary to an old man, a translator. As Frances listens to the adventures of her ancestors, she soon learns more about her Icelandic past.

I found that W.D. Valgardson's book Frances  didn't have as much adventure as I'd hoped, and I found the reading slow going. The author used too many abbreviations (for names) in her story.  It was hard to remember what they stood for, and I had to constantly flip back in the book to find what they meant. However, she made up for this with her knowledge of Icelandic myths, which I enjoyed. Frances is an easier read (suitable for lower intermediate students). I give the novel, Frances, three stars.