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Michel
Frank is Natalie’s husband, whom she meets when she goes to university. He has a mixed-race background, the son of the wealthy white Elena and a Trinidadian train guard. Frank’s unusual background makes him immediately attractive to Natalie, who has always been fascinated by (and sometimes envious of) people with a higher social status than her own. But while Natalie succeeds in winning over Frank and his mother, she soon learns that being with Frank involves compromises, as she changes herself to fit into his world. By the end of the novel, Natalie has given up much of her idealism and embraced Frank’s worldview—that the difference between rich and poor people is hard work. This makes Frank a hypocritical character, since of course he didn’t work hard at all (and did poorly in school) and yet he remains wealthy because of his family privilege.
Francesco “Frank” De Angelis Quotes in NW
The NW quotes below are all either spoken by Francesco “Frank” De Angelis or refer to Francesco “Frank” De Angelis. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Visitation: Chapter 16 Quotes
— Why do you treat me like an idiot all the time?
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Host Quotes
Perhaps sex isn’t of the body at all. Perhaps it is a function of language. The gestures themselves are limited—there are only so many places for so many things to go—and Rodney was in no way deficient technically. He was silent. Whereas all Frank’s silly, uncontrolled, unselfconscious, embarrassing storytelling found its purpose here, in a bedroom.
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Natalie Blake had completely forgotten what it was like to be poor. It was a language she’d stopped being able to speak, or even to understand.
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Crossing: Hornsey Lane Quotes
Here nothing less than a break—a sudden and total rupture—would do. She could see the act perfectly clearly, it appeared before her like an object in her hand—and then the wind shook the trees once more and her feet touched the pavement. The act remained just that: an act, a prospect, always possible. Someone would surely soon come to this bridge and claim it, both the possibility and the act itself, as they had been doing with grim regularity ever since the bridge was built. But right at this moment there was no one left to do it.
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Visitation Quotes
In her daughter’s eyes Natalie saw her own celebrated will reflected back at her, at twice the intensity.
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Francesco “Frank” De Angelis Character Timeline in NW
The timeline below shows where the character Francesco “Frank” De Angelis appears in NW. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Visitation: Chapter 16
Leah is with Michel, visiting her friend Natalie and Natalie’s husband Frank at the old Victorian house where they live. Leah begins to resent Natalie, who seems...
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Frank in particular seems to be from a wealthier world than the one Leah knows. Leah...
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Natalie goes in to get some banana bread, and Frank tries to make small talk. Michel mentions that he’s been getting into day trading, starting...
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Visitation: Chapter 23
...fun at the party they’re hosting. She gets drunk quickly. At one point, she corners Frank and asks him how he and Natalie manage to stay happy. Frank says he tells...
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Host
...but seems like he was born on a yacht. His name is Francesco De Angelis (Frank). The rumor is his father might be an African prince.
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...Rodney. She begins seeing other men, but the whole time, she can’t stop thinking about Frank. One day, a young man Natalie is having sex with named Imran invites her to...
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...and starts buying things to try to keep up with her richer classmates. She sees Frank at a costume party where he is dressed as Frantz Fanon and she is dressed...
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At a boring dinner for a university event, Natalie and Frank get to talking, and she flirts with him. Frank gets too drunk and embarrasses himself...
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Natalie and Frank go out for a meal, and then go back to Frank’s place to have sex....
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The next time Natalie sees Leah, around her six-month anniversary with Frank, Leah has stopped wearing alternative clothes and starts talking about a man named Michel whom...
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Frank flunks the bar, which is no surprise to Elena, who seems pleased that Frank failed...
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...promised to pay her back 110% never did. Later, Natalie goes on a picnic with Frank, and he says that he talked with Elena: they both want to give Natalie money...
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Frank accuses Natalie’s family of not having money because they make poor life choices, but Natalie...
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Natalie starts her pupillage and makes plans to marry Frank. Her new fellow pupils take her out for drinks to celebrate. She gets married and...
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...Natalie condescendingly. Natalie begins to complain about the commute to her office, and she convinces Frank to move. They draw up a contract and split the deposit in half, even though...
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...finances. She can tell that things are bad but doesn’t want to have to ask Frank for help. Natalie does eventually mention her family’s money problems to Frank, but he doesn’t...
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Frank and Natalie sometimes go out for long breakfasts that turn into brunch, then lunch. Frank...
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...begins to get addicted to the internet. She makes plans to have a picnic with Frank, Leah, and Michel, and she wants the day to go perfectly. She also goes to...
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...is going to a pub later, but Natalie has received a lot of texts from Frank and feels she should get home.
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...people on the news are questioning the morals of people who work financial jobs, like Frank. But when she tries to write an article about this and asks Frank questions, he...
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One day, Frank sees Natalie’s laptop open. He sees some emails that she has written from a secret...
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Crossing: Willesden Lane to Kilburn High Road
...around the estate and get to talking, Natalie starts to cry. Nathan reassures her that Frank will take her back, but Natalie says he shouldn’t.
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Visitation
Natalie wakes up the next morning beside Frank and is surprised to somehow be in the exact same position where she found herself...
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