The Trouble With Francis

Francis, gentle and kind, is convinced that all relationships can succeed. He marries melancholic Kim, believing that through his love and compassion her emotional issues would resolve themselves. He marries his second wife, Janet, even though he suspects that she would have preferred a more assertive type of man. He invites Abel to become his partner, even though he knows him to be aggressive and self-centered.
The story unfolds in London, where Francis courts Kim; in Tel Aviv, where Francis meets the Polish-Jewish multi-millionaire Joseph; and on to West Africa, where Francis teaches Pudding, a young prostitute, to read and write, and where Joseph falls in love with the mysterious Queen Esther.
There are also episodes in Warsaw, Washington and New York.
The book is about anguish and deliverance, a sort of adult fairy story in which good is ultimately rewarded.