Return to Sullivan's Island
by Dorothea Benton Frank
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Book Reviews of Return to Sullivan's Island
Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 2 Stars
I read this book because we were making our 1st trip to South Carolina -- a bike ride from Charleston to Savannah that included Sullivan's Island. I enjoyed the descriptions of the area & I think the writer has a talent for writing dialog but the plot & some of the characterization are a mess. How unlikable is Beth -- she comes across as a not-too-bright whiny brat. Can't believe more people haven't commented on her character. She is supposedly a Catholic yet sleeps with a man she barely knows, lies left & right, deceives her family & commits an outright crime that could have cost a man his job. The author did not do a good job of making Beth sympathetic or believable. And the plot ending was laughably stupid. However, we did enjoy South Carolina (except for the mosquitoes).Book Review: In a word.... Awful!
Summary: 1 Stars
It is extremely rare that I don't finish a book, but I just couldn't continue reading. I read a lot of mysteries, but love Pat Conroy and others who write novels that take place in the south, and especially those that focus on family relationships.
I wanted to like this book...but Beth was just too ridiculous to take seriously. When my daughter was in middle school she was more mature than Beth. I grew up in the south and I realize that there is no shortage of 'characters' in many of our families, but this group was just too stereotyped. It's getting a little tiresome for authors to rely on 'southern weirdness'. And then there's the ghost who cleans up the kitchen? Come on!!
This is the first book by this author that I've read and it will likely be the last.
Book Review: She always delivers
Summary: 5 Stars
Dorothea Benton Frank always delivers a delightful story. Her Southern women are true, strong, a little quirky and open to suggestion. I buy her books in hardback as soon as they are published; there is no way I could wait for a paperbook version.
In this book, a young woman finds her own place in the world in a wonderful, believable and interesting way. It reminded me strongly of the women I know who are in their twenties and thirties today and had some lessons for them to learn. These books never quite follow the path you think they might, but they reach a conclusion that makes you smile. The characters unfold. The story unfolds. You are just along for the ride, wrapped in a world Dot Frank creates, not quite the one you live in every day.
Book Review: Dorthea Benton Frank wrote this????
Summary: 3 Stars
This story line had promise. But, it never lived up to it,
I am sorry to say. It was slightly interesting. But, several characters simply were not fleshed out enough for me to care about them. And the love interest that led to a disastrously bad ending. I have to say what love story? I did not feel the actions Beth eventually commits were worth the so called love she had. It just didn't wash. At all.
The rushed ending, which included a profound happening for the Hamilton/Hayes family, should have been written with a great deal of pathos, was simply ish-kibble mishegoss. I was extremely disappointed in Frank's storytelling. I will return to Sullivan's Island, but only the original novel. And to Frank's many other satisfying and re-readable tales.
Book Review: Three stars only because .....
Summary: 3 Stars
I have faith that Dorothea's next book will be more like her earlier books and this book is set in the South of course.
I listened to the audio of this book, that didn't help me like it anymore either. The main character was young granted but came across, dimwitted, bull headed and disrespectful at times. I wanted to reach through the CD and shake her.
Some parts of the story really took some imagination and were quite unbelievable, I will leave it at that.
I do enjoy the southern setting and always will. I hope that Mrs. Frank goes back to writing in the style of her first books with more wisened, level headed characters. I really miss those good ole Southern women.