Francine Nolie was the wife of Samuel Nolie and is the mother of Rimas Nolie and Theresa Nolie.

She was a street artist who would paint murals on the sides of businesses, often these murals were critical of the imperialism practiced by the empire. She never vandalized, and was never successfully arrested, though on several occasions high-ranking officials attempted to plant evidence on her person or in her dwelling in order to substantiate fabricated criminal charges. But Francine was sly, and quite good at playing the part of “innocent dumb woman”. Also, the businesses were the ones who paid her for the murals in the first place.

Not long after Theresa’s birth, Francine realized that she would need to pick a steadier career to ensure her children were taken care of. With some support from Sam, she enrolled in nursing school, and for some time she worked in the Tolikra General Hospital (the same one which Jutse currently works in). Around the time when Sam passed, Francine attempted to take over the bookstore, but she didn’t have experience running it and, afraid that she would destroy the reputation of the place, she decided to lock away anything valuable in the storage basement beneath the bookstore, and sell the bookstore to a chain. She returned to nursing, accumulated experience, and eventually became a middle school nurse after passing her certification exams.

Francine’s own parents were strict conservatives. While they had supported her foray into the visual arts at a young age, as she grew older and her views became more outwardly anti-establishment, they distanced themselves from her, they stopped inviting her to holiday outings with the extended family, and she was constantly lied about by her parents to excuse Francine’s gradual disappearance. As Rimas never knew them well, neither do I. I had spoken to Francine on a couple occasions, but the subject of her parents just didn’t come up much.

Rimas herself met her maternal grandparents just once, at the funeral for her uncle (her mother’s brother). Francine had, at that point in her life, become slightly more conservative herself, and timidly approached her estranged parents at the funeral reception. Within seconds of Francine introducing Rimas to her grandparents, Rimas immediately asked them “is it true you huffed lead paint and asbestos to kill your brain cells?” Francine picked up Rimas over her shoulder and immediately left the funeral, so embarrassed she had begun to cry. Rimas never saw her grandparents again.