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Salinger’s relationship with Claire Douglas proved to be his focus throughout 1954, and he published nothing new that year. His career did not suffer from neglect. Both The Catcher in the Rye and Nine Stories continued to sell at amazing rates. In addition, the year witnessed a number of stories reprinted in various collections. “Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut” appeared in American Short Story Masterpieces, published by Dell; “Just Before the War with the Eskimos” was reprinted for Bantam in Manhattan: Stories from the Heart of a Great City; and Nine Stories was released in paperback by the New American Library. It had no cover illustration.

At the same time that Salinger’s work was enjoying added exposure, Sir Laurence Olivier approached him via Jamie Hamilton, requesting permission to adapt “For Esmé” into a radio drama for the BBC. “He’s most anxious to include ‘For Esmé,’ ” Hamilton reported, “and hopes you will feel like agreeing.” Salinger would have been the only contemporary author that Olivier had thus far included in his radio series, and he should have been flattered; he refused nonetheless. My Foolish Heart was still fresh in Salinger’s psyche, and even Olivier could not be allowed to do an interpretation of “Esmé” that might betray its spirit. If Olivier was surprised at Salinger’s refusal, especially after the 1951 dinner faux pas, Jamie Hamilton felt absolutely rebuffed.

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The drama of Salinger’s relationship with Claire Douglas is the backdrop for “Franny,” the only story he completed in 1954. Since its publication, scholars have consistently pointed to Claire as being the inspiration for Franny’s character. Salinger often embedded such personal items into his stories, and there can be little doubt that Franny’s character reflects Claire Douglas. Her half brother Gavin also believed this to be true. In 1961 he told Time magazine that “the navy blue bag with the white leather binding,” carried by Franny in the story, was the very bag that Claire owned when she visited Colman Mockler. Gavin scornfully went on to accuse Salinger of inflicting the same Jesus Prayer that drives the story “Franny” on his sister while he was writing the story. “She was hung on the Jesus Prayer,” Gavin recalled. “Jerry is very good at hanging people on things.” Despite Gavin’s derision for Salinger, his claim has never been disputed. If true, it grants Salinger a sympathy for the prayer that is seldom accorded by readers.

Another parallel between the fiction of “Franny” and actual events is created by the character of Franny’s boyfriend, Lane Coutell. It has long been speculated that Lane’s character was based upon Claire’s first husband. However, Salinger presents Lane as pompous and condescending, too intellectual to respond to Franny’s spiritual needs. In truth, it was Mockler who experienced the religious breakthrough shared by Franny’s character and not Claire, although that event may indeed have sparked a spiritual crisis within her.

It also seems that Salinger devised the basic plot of “Franny” long before Claire’s fleeting marriage. In fact, the story’s concept may be nearly as old as The Catcher in the Rye. When “De Daumier–Smith’s Blue Period” was rejected by The New Yorker in 1951, Salinger told Gus Lobrano that he was considering doing “that college story” instead.4 So, though Salinger may have imbued “Franny” with numerous personal references, the story itself is not a retelling of his own relationship. The inspiration of many of Salinger’s characters often sprang from actual people, but in short time the author’s imagination took control and obscured these sources. Consequently, Lane Coutell may not resemble Colman Mockler any more than Robert Ackley resembled Salinger’s own classmate or Raymond Ford resembled Charles Hanson Towne.

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“Franny” is the tale of a young woman who questions the values of people around her. Believing there must be more to life than ego-filled pretension and competition, she determines to seek a spiritual