Lowcountry Summer

I thought this was the best one yet. It's been a while since I've laughed out loud. The southern humor is something I wish I had. I LOVED this book. We all have some crazies in our family. I lost some sleep with this one. Keep them coming Dorothea!

The last two novels by this great southern writer have been sequels of sorts, focusing on the daughters of people we know. Sometimes sequels are disappointing, but these are not. Dorothea Benton Frank tells a darned good story every time, never disappointing. The characters are well-described in the context of the story. Interesting fact: she asked her Facebook fans for possible titles to the story and stuck close to what was suggested.

Item was delayed from publisher so didn't arrive as initially agreed, but I finally received it and it was worth the wait! As usual, any of Ms Franks books are worth the price and the wait.

Have you ever fallen in love with characters from a book and just hate when the book ends? I have too and I just love that Dorothea Benton Frank has brought back her wonderful characters from Plantation in her new offering, Lowcountry Summer. Miss Caroline Wimbley, the Grand Dame of Tall Pines plantation, embodies the grace and elegance of a modern Southern Belle while attempting to incorporate traditional values in everyday life. On the other hand, Frances Mae who is married to Caroline's brother Trip, is Caroline's polar opposite. The contrasts of these two charters and their confrontations were always greatly anticipated throughout Plantation and now we get another helping of it here in Lowcountry Summer. But what could be better than reading about a throw-down between those two? How about Miss Caroline trying to tame and teach three of Frances Mae's daughters...two of whom have managed to embody the flat-foot-floozy hillbilly attributes of their mother while being the quintessential brooding, complaining teenagers. Unfortunately for Caroline, Frances Mae has decided to drown the depression from her marital split in booze and ends up almost killing herself and her youngest daughter, Chloe, when she runs her car into a ditch. It becomes apparent that, although many rehab facilities have had their shot at reforming Frances Mae, it is now time to pull out the big guns and ship Frances out to Promises in California for a two month intense intervention of her alcoholism. What follows is a series of events that test the mantel of Caroline, her son Eric, brother Trip and his girlfriend Rusty, and even Frances Mae's eldest daughter Amelia. To heap on insult to injury, Caroline's ex husband, Richard Levine, picks this particular time to show up and make a pitch for her attentions and brings his own woes to her doorstep. This is just the tip of the ice burg but worry not; all players are present to assist in the insanity including the sweet Mr. Jenkins and the Geechee Queen herself, Miss Millie. Lowcounrty Summer moves along at a great pace with some wonderful pauses for accent and balance. D.B.F. manages to write about South Carolina in a way that will play out as a movie in your mind to the point you forget your reading a book. When she describes the sadness and love Caroline has for her mother, Miss Lavinia, I swear I could hear the "tinkling laugh of Miss Lavinia" not with my ears, but with my whole being. I have never had such consistent reading pleasure out of another author the way I have for Dorothea Benton Frank and I highly suggest you treat yourself with Lowcountry Summer (or any of her great stories, really). I know you'll be happy you did!

During a huge storm I dreamed I was in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Having fallen asleep after re-reading Dorothea Benton Frank's latest Southern saga, Lowcountry Summer: A Plantation Novel, in the dream I could hear the lightning z-zz-zag and the thunder roar as I "walked" among the roses on Caroline Levine's family plantation. When I woke up back in my own home during a behemoth thunderstorm, it felt a little disappointing. Lowcountry Summer is not. Mayhem and mystery run as wild as jasmine in June in the sequel to Frank's Plantation. As the current queen of Tall Pines, Caroline divides her time between a business venture, Sweetie's, producing strawberry jam and other confections, her on-again-off again pig-farmer beau, and flirting with the local officer of the law. (Suffice it to say that in the middle of a romantic evening, one paramour falls prey to heart trouble and the other stays for dinner. Enough said. ) Caroline's brother Trip strikes a deal with his own long-estranged (and highly colorful) problematic spouse, Frances Mae. After negotiating with the Daisy-Duke-wearing-high-heeled-substance-abusing mother of his children to enter rehab, Trip needs a liaison between his four girls and the true love of his life, Rusty. Caroline, Millie and Rusty begin the mad dash for decency during Frances Mae's 60-day stint, plowing through bungled barbecues, a glorious graduation gathering, all the while instilling an involuntary sense of decorum in Trip's adolescents. A silent but powerful force in each of Frank's novels, a sense of mystery and mysticism pervades the household and grounds. Caroline's birthday party opens the novel, where she shares a dream of her late mother and pink and white balloons. Her son Eric and niece Amelia shared the same vision, presenting her with the very same as an impromptu gift. Conversely, while practicing her native religion, the families' beloved housekeeper Millie foresees a terrible omen, prompting her and Caroline to race around warding off evil spirits at Tall Pines. Their efforts fall short, and the family comes together in true Southern style to mourn their loss. Lowcountry Summer's tradition, strong women, perfect comedic timing, and romance hit you with all the force of a Carolina storm-- wild, unpredictable, and fascinating. Nonetheless, Frank leaves you with the sense of having relaxed on the veranda of Tall Pines, breathing deep of pine straw, river breezes, and fresh-from-the-oven biscuits, topped with Sweetie's strawberry preserves. Julia Brantley A Score of Intervals: Sharps & Flats on Brusca