Porch Lights - Review

Title: Porch Lights

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank

Source: Library

Goodreads Summary:

When Jimmy McMullen, a fireman with the NYFD, is killed in the line of duty, his wife, Jackie, and ten-year-old son, Charlie, are devastated. Charlie idolized his dad, and now the outgoing, curious boy has become quiet and reserved. Trusting in the healing power of family, Jackie decides to return to her childhood home on Sullivans Island.

Crossing the bridge from the mainland, Jackie and Charlie enter a world full of wonder and magic—lush green and chocolate grasslands and dazzling red, orange, and magenta evening skies; the heady pungency of Lowcountry Pluff mud and fresh seafood on the grill; bare toes snuggled in warm sand and palmetto fronds swaying in gentle ocean winds.

Awaiting them is Annie Britt, the family matriarch who has kept the porch lights on to welcome them home. Thrilled to have her family back again, Annie promises to make their visit perfect—even though relations between mother and daughter have never been what you'd call smooth. Over the years, Jackie and Annie, like all mothers and daughters, have been known to have frequent and notorious differences of opinion. But her estranged and wise husband, Buster, and her flamboyant and funny best friend Deb are sure to keep Annie in line. She's also got Steven Plofker, the flirtatious and devilishly tasty widowed physician next door, to keep her distracted as well.

My thoughts:

One of the oldest traditions of finding your way home involves leaving a light in the window - a candle, a hurricane lamp, an electric lamp, and porch lights.  In Frank's novel, Porch Lights, she uses this tradition to symbolize Jackie's return from the darkness, to her home.  

Jackie and her son Charlie have suffered the devastating loss of Jimmy, Jackie's husband and Charlie's father. They are living in the home they made as a family in New York, trying to put their lives back together.  Jackie and Charlie are understandably having a rough time, and Jackie realizes they need to get away from it all for a bit, to return to her family home of Sullivan's Island, to help her child heal.

She doesn't have the best relationship with her mother, thinking her too flighty and dramatic, but has a pretty solid relationship with her father. At least at first. Jackie begins to appreciate her mother and see her in a new light, during their weeks together.  And she also starts to heal herself.  Her son is flourishing on the island, and does not want to return home. And I don't blame him, it sounded like paradise on the island. Sitting on the porch, drinking coffee in the morning, cocktails at night, with an ocean breeze blowing over you, all relaxed and lazy. Morning walks on the beach, all the Poe trivia - I wanted to move in with Annie too!!  

I had no idea that Edgar Allen Poe ever lived on Sullivan's Island.  I found the bits of information about Poe and his life on the island very interesting, and definitely inspired me to read The Gold-Bug. I haven't started it yet, but I will soon.  I have always been a fan of Poe's poetry, and some of his stories, like the Tell-Tale Heart.  I have always wanted to go to the Outer Banks, but now I really want to go, now that I know of Poe's Tavern.  (yes, I am a nerd)

Is this book one of the most well written I have ever read? No, and sometimes the dialogue drives me nuts. But the characters are fun, the setting amazing, and it is entertaining and beachy and perfect for a light read.  

Folly Beach - Review

Title:  Folly Beach
Author:  Dorothea Benton Frank
Publisher:  William Morrow

Goodreads Summary:

Home is the place that knows us best. . . . 

A woman returns to the past to find her future in this enchanting new tale of loss, acceptance, family, and love. 

With its sandy beaches and bohemian charms, surfers and suits alike consider Folly Beach to be one of South Carolina's most historic and romantic spots. It is also the land of Cate Cooper's childhood, the place where all the ghosts of her past roam freely. Cate never thought she'd wind up in this tiny cottage named the Porgy House on this breathtakingly lovely strip of coast. But circumstances have changed, thanks to her newly dead husband whose financial—and emotional—bull and mendacity have left Cate homeless, broke, and unmoored. 

Yet Folly Beach holds more than just memories. Once upon a time another woman found unexpected bliss and comfort within its welcoming arms. An artist, writer, and colleague of the revered George Gershwin, Dorothy Heyward enjoyed the greatest moments of her life at Folly with her beloved husband, DuBose. And though the Heywards are long gone, their passion and spirit lingers in every mango sunset and gentle ocean breeze. 

And for Cate, Folly, too, holds the promise of unexpected fulfillment when she is forced to look at her life and the zany characters that are her family anew. To her surprise, she will discover that you can go home again. Folly Beach doesn't just hold the girl she once was . . . it also holds the promise of the woman she's always wanted—and is finally ready—to become. 


My thoughts: 


I have been hit and miss with Dorothea Benton Frank lately- this one however hit all the right notes!  Ever since reading Vixen, it seems so many books I have picked up or want to read are set in the 1920s, or have backstory from the 20s.  Which is fine by me - I have always loved the excitement and drama of the roaring 20s.  Folly Beach has a storyline in the present day, but every other chapter is part of a play about the Heywards, who worked with Gershwin to turn Heyward's Porgy and Bess into a musical.  

I have to admit, at first these chapters bothered me - I would just get into what was going on in the main story line  and would be interrupted within the book, like a commercial.  But as I read on, the more I enjoyed the Heyward's story line just as much.  I liked all the characters in this book, especially Cate's love interest John, who reminded me a tiny bit of Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre.  And wow Cate has a terrible start in this book - I was riveted, what else could have gone wrong for her?  Apparently everything!  The tragedy of it all forced her to become her own person though, and find actual happiness in the end.

Shem Creek- Review

Title: Shem Creek
Author: Dorothea Benton Frank
Publisher:  Berkley

Goodreads Summary:

Meet Linda Breland, single parent of two teenage daughters. The oldest, Lindsey, who always held her younger sister in check, is leaving for college. And Gracie, her Tasmanian devil, is giving her nightmares. Linda's personal life? Well, between the married men, the cold New Jersey winters, her pinched wallet and her ex-husband who marries a beautiful, successful woman ten years younger than she is - let's just say, Linda has seen enough to fill a thousand pages.

As the story opens, she is barreling down Interstate 95, bound for Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the land of her ancestors. Welcomed by the generous heart of her advice-dispensing sister, Mimi, Linda and her daughters slowly begin to find their way and discover a sweeter rhythm of life.

And then there's Brad Jackson, a former investment banker of Atlanta, Georgia who hires her to run his restaurant on Shem Creek. Like everyone else, Brad's got a story of his own - namely an almost ex-wife, Loretta who is the kind of gal who gives women a bad name. 

The real protagonist of this story is the Lowcountry itself. The magical waters of Shem Creek, the abundant wildlife and the astounding power of nature give this tiny corner of the planet its infallible reputation as a place for introspection, contemplation and healing. 

My thoughts:

I give this a book a meh, it was ok, hand wave.  The parts I loved:  the description of the area, the creek itself, the beach, the lifestyle the characters led, the cute boathouse on the water they lived in. I fell more in love with the idea of this book, I think, than the actual book itself.  What I didn't like:  The crazy sudden relationship at the end between Linda and Brad- throughout most of the book you maybe got the sense that Linda was starting to develop a crush on Brad, but you didn't get the feeling that he reciprocated.  I also was put off by the lack of concern for the environment in this book- the book is set in such a gorgeous area of the United States, the author makes a point to mention that it is being destroyed, but the only character who really cares about it is an extremist maniac.  It was interesting, I guess, to see this issue from the other side, from a business who is contributing to the demise of the creek by trying to make a living, not realizing that what they are doing is causing the creek to essentially become a dead creek.  I didn't like that the characters learned this, and didn't seem to care. I think at one point, Linda's character actually says something like "like who cares, right?" when referring to the environmental problems.  Only after the restaurant is burned down by the extremist character, do they make concessions - they move the newly built restaurant back further from the creek, add appropriate drainage, and make brochures.  But it just seemed really throw away to me.  What I could overlook:  the quick turnaround in behavior from the youngest daughter, and the ease in which Linda rebuilds a brand new life.

I think this book was just ok- I liked the other Frank book I read better. I will probably read her again, however, since I have read one good, one marginal.  This book is a great vacation book, but not really much more than that.

Pawleys Island- Review

Book: Pawleys Island

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank

Publisher: Berkley

Goodreads Summary:

Catapulted from her home, her marriage and her children, artist Rebecca Simms has come to Pawleys Island to hide herself from herself. Little does she know that on this “arrogantly shabby” family playground, she’ll encounter three people who will change her life: a wise and irresistible octogenarian who will pry her secrets from her, a gallery owner who caters to interior decorators and heaven save us, tourists, and a retired attorney from Columbia who’s complacent in her fat and sassy life until Rebecca’s stormy advent.

With characteristic humor and a full cast of eccentric and wonderfully lovable characters, Dorothea Benton Frank brings us a refreshingly honest and funny novel about friendship, family, and finding happiness by becoming who you are meant to be.

My thoughts:

I am in love with the south, or at least my romanticized version of it. One day I will live there- perhaps when home values go back up in Michigan and we can sell our house. Until then, here I am in the North, dreaming of the south. I find myself in the same reading patterns every summer - reading books set in the south, Faulkner to Tennessee Williams (love him), to Connie May Fowler (another favorite), to Dorothea Benton Frank. There are no limits or limitations.

This summer is no different. As soon as the weather began to change from the cool spring weather to the humidity of Michigan summers, I found my reading material shifting course. I picked this book up in the library, and fell in.

What a wonderful world Rebecca landed in - and such good, influential friends she found immediately. Yep, this book was true escapism. The book begins by talking about how at times we all want to just run away, start over, become someone new somewhere else, leaving our problems behind. Rebecca runs away to start over, but her new friends help her to face what she is trying to leave behind. She just gets to do it from a condo on a Georgia coastal island, with rich friends. If I were going to run away and start over, this is how I would want it to work out for me too.

Great book for daydreaming about island living in the south - makes you want an ocean view and a hammock if you don't have one, that is for sure!