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Fall of Frost by Brian Hall

In Fall of Frost, Brian Hall creates a fictional account of Robert Frost's life. He centers it around Frost's 1962 diplomatic mission to visit Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban missile crisis. Frost was 88 years old and upon his return, he mangled Khrushchev's words, rendering the mission a dismal failure. This causes him to remember the other painful periods in his life - the death of his children including his son's suicide, his failure as a farmer, and his parents' violent relationship. At the same time, his poetry made him a beloved figure in the country. Brian Hall sprinkles Frost's early poetry through the novel and Fall of Frost has received positive reviews with the Christian Science Monitor saying, "Those looking for a straight biography of Frost should stick with Jay Parini. And those who want a story with a poet at its center will probably be happier with A.S. Byatt's Possession. But for readers desiring a richly poetic treatment of Frost in all his splendid contrariety - kindly/surly, selfish/magnanimous, caring/distant, childish/infinitely wise - this is a book to savor."