Bøker av Dorothea Benton Frank

?If I could only read one writer from now until the end of my life, it would be Dorothea Benton Frank." ?Elin Hilderbrand, the New York Times bestselling authorImmerse yourself in the enchanting world of New York Times bestselling author Dorthea Benton Frank's Carolina Lowcountry in this evocative tale that returns at long last to her beloved Sullivan's Island. Beekeeper Holly McNee Kensen quietly lives in a world of her own on Sullivan's Island, tending her hives and working at the local island library. Holly calls her mother The Queen Bee because she's a demanding hulk of a woman. Her mother, a devoted hypochondriac, might be unaware that she's quite ill but that doesn't stop her from tormenting Holly. To escape the drama, Holly's sister Leslie married and moved away, wanting little to do with island life. Holly's escape is to submerge herself in the lives of the two young boys next door and their widowed father, Archie.Her world is upended when the more flamboyant Leslie returns and both sisters, polar opposites, fixate on what's happening in their neighbor's home. Is Archie really in love with that awful ice queen of a woman? If Archie marries her, what will become of his little boys? Restless Leslie is desperate for validation after her imploded marriage, squandering her favors on any and all takers. Their mother ups her game in an uproarious and theatrical downward spiral. Scandalized Holly is talking to her honey bees a mile a minute, as though they'll give her a solution to all the chaos. Maybe they will.Queen Bee is a classic Lowcountry Tale, warm, wise and hilarious, roars with humanity and a dropperful of whodunit added for good measure by an unseen hand. In her twentieth novel, Dorothea Benton Frank brings us back to her beloved island with an unforgettable story where the Lowcountry magic of the natural world collides with the beat of the human heart.

When fireman Jimmy McMullen is killed in the line of duty, his wife, Jackie, and ten-year-old son, Charlie, are devastated. Trusting in the healing power of family, Jackie decides to return to her childhood home on Sullivans Island?a place of lush green grasslands, the heady pungency of Lowcountry Pluff mud, and palmetto fronds swaying in gentle ocean winds.Thrilled to have her family back, matriarch Annie Britt promises to make their visit perfect. Over the years, Jackie and Annie, like all mothers and daughters, have had differences of opinion. But her estranged and wise husband, Buster, and her best friend, Deb, are sure to keep Annie in line. She's also got the flirtatious widowed physician next door to keep her distracted. Captivated by the island's natural charms, mother, daughter, and grandson will share a memorable, illuminating summer.

New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank returns to the Carolina lowcountry with a soul-satisfying tale of chance, honor, and star-crossed love, infused with wit, grace, and Southern charmIt has been years since Elizabeth ?Betts? McGee has returned to her once-adored Bulls Island in the Carolina lowcountry?ages since tragic fate coupled with nasty rumor ended her engagement to fabulously wealthy Charleston golden boy J. D. Langley. Having successfully reinvented herself as a top New York banking executive, Betts is now heading up the most important project of her career. But it'll transform the untouched island she loved in her youth into something unrecognizable. And it's forcing her to return to the bosom of her estranged family, where she may not be welcomed with open arms?and uniting her with ex-flame J.D., who's changed . . . but perhaps not enough.

In this fast-paced and evocative novel, beloved New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank again takes us deep into the Lowcountry of South Carolina, where three unsuspecting women are brought together by tragedy and mysteryLisa St. Clair knows a thing or two about weathering storms. A dedicated nurse with a healthy sense of humor, she single-handedly raised her truculent daughter, Marianne, after her ex walked out on them twenty-four years ago, sending them a lottery ticket once a year as support. One day he reappeared and lured their daughter into a dubious but lucrative venture in Colorado. Now mother and daughter aren't speaking.So when Kathy Harper, Lisa's favorite patient, loses her battle with cancer, Lisa finds herself drawing closer to Carrie and Suzanne, the devoted friends who were always by Kathy's side. As these three women's lives inevitably connect, they share their concerns about men, getting older, and the horrors of maintaining financial stability. Suzanne's ninety-nine-year-old grandmother, a former chanteuse, offers unexpected perspectives on the mores of the day. Carrie's greedy ex-stepchildren are a chorus of cackling crows. And Lisa's mother just can't help herself as she henpecks her to distraction.Somehow their conversations always return to the enigma of Kathy. Who was she? What did her short life mean?As Lisa, Carrie, and Suzanne power walk the beaches of the Isle of Palms, they gradually uncover the truth of Kathy's life and unfurl plans to secure their own futures, as fate steps in to help them discover that being single doesn't have to mean being alone.

Folly Beach, South Carolina, with its glistening beaches, laid-back Southern charm, and enticing Gullah tradition, is the land of Cate Cooper's childhood, the place where all the ghosts of her past roam freely. Now, thanks to a newly deceased husband whose financial and emotional perfidy has left her homeless and broke, she's returning to this lovely strip of coast.Once, another woman found comfort here: an artist, writer, and sometime colleague of the revered George Gershwin. With her beloved husband, DuBose, Dorothy Heyward enjoyed the greatest moments of her life at Folly. Though the Heywards are long gone, their passion and spirit linger in every ocean breeze. To her surprise, Cate is about to discover that you can go home again, for Folly holds the possibility of unexpected fulfillment?not just the memories of the girl she was, but the promise of the woman she's always wanted to become. . . .

Experience the sultry Southern atmosphere of Atlanta and the magic of the Carolina Lowcountry in this funny and poignant tale of one audacious womans quest to find the love she deserves, from New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank.Leslie Anne Greene Carter is The Last Original Wife among her husband Wesleys wildly successful Atlanta social set. His cronies have all traded in the mothers of their children they promised to love and cherishtil death did them partfor tanned and toned young Barbie brides.If losing the social life and close friends she adored wasnt painful enough, a series of setbacks shake Less world and push her to the edge. Shes had enough of playing the good wife to a husband who thinks hes doing her a favor by keeping her around. Shes not going to waste another minute on people she doesnt care to know. Now, shes going to take some time for herselfin the familiar comforts and stunning beauty of Charleston, her beloved hometown. In her brothers stately historic home, shes going to reclaim the carefree girl who spent lazy summers sharing steamy kisses with her first love on Sullivans Island. Along Charlestons live oak- and palmetto-lined cobblestone streets, under the Lowcountrys dazzling blue sky, Les will indulge herself with icy cocktails, warm laughter, divine temptation and bittersweet memories. Daring to listen to her inner voice, she will realize what she wants . . . and find the life of which shes always dreamed.Told in the alternating voices of Les and Wes, The Last Original Wife is classic Dorothea Benton Frank: an intoxicating tale of family, friendship, self-discovery, and love, that is as salty as a Lowcountry breeze and as invigorating as a dip in Carolina waters on a sizzling summer day.

"Frank...writes with genuine adoration for and authority on the South Carolina Lowcountry from which she sprang....[Her] stuff is never escapist fluff--it's the real deal."--Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionReturn to Tall Pines in the long-awaited sequel to Dorothea Benton Frank's beloved bestseller Plantation. Lowcountry Summer is the story of the changing anatomy of a family after the loss of its matriarch, sparkling with the inimitable Dot Frank's warmth and humor. The much-beloved New York Times bestselling author follows the recent success of Return to Sullivans Island, Bulls Island, and Land of Mango Sunsets with a tale rich in atmosphere and unforgettable scenes of Southern life, once again placing her at the dais, alongside Anne Rivers Siddons, Sue Monk Kidd, Rebecca Wells, Pat Conroy, and other masters of contemporary Southern fiction.

"Her books are funny, sexy, and usually damp with seawater."--Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of TidesIn Return to Sullivans Island, Dorothea Benton Frank revisits the enchanted landscape of South Carolina's Lowcountry made famous in her beloved New York Times bestseller Sullivans Island. Frank focuses on the next generation of Hamiltons and Hayes, earning high praise from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which writes, "Frank brings to vivid life the rich landscape and its unpretentious folks....A reader need only close her eyes for a moment to feel that thick-sticky heat, smell the wild salt marshes." If you enjoy getting lost in the works of Anne Rivers Siddons, Rebecca Wells, and Pat Conroy--novels brimming with atmosphere and strong Southern charm--you are going to love Dotty Frank's Return to Sullivans Island.

Her despicable husband left her for a lingerie model who's barely more than a teenager, and her kids are busy with their own lives. But before Miriam Elizabeth Swanson can work herself up into a true snit about it all, her newest tenant, Liz, arrives from Birmingham with plenty of troubles of her own. Then Miriam meets a man named Harrison, who makes her laugh, makes her cry, and makes her feel like a brand-new woman.It's almost too much for one Manhattan quasi-socialite to handle--so Miriam's escaping to the enchanted and mysterious land of Sullivans Island, deep in the low country of South Carolina, a place where she can finally get her head on straight--and perhaps figure out that pride is not what's going to keep her warm at night . . .

A moving story of the power of love and the miracles of life--chock full of Southern wit, sass, and charm Grace is an intelligent, (struggling-to-be) independent 31-year-old single woman living (in sin!) with the man she'd marry if they both weren't so commitment phobic. Michael is a doctor and a scientist and Grace has a good idea that he's also an atheist. Over the years, this dutiful Catholic girl has become ambivalent about her faith. But her family is as devoutly old-fashioned as it gets. The stage is set for a major showdown that might just change Grace's outlook on life, family, and the South itself.

If I could only read one writer from now until the end of my life, it would be Dorothea Benton Frank. --Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of The Identicals The Lowcountry of South Carolina is whereBy Invitation Only begins at a barbecue engagement party thrown by Diane English Stiftel, her brother Floyd, and her parents to celebrate her sons engagement. On this gorgeous, magical night, the brides father, Alejandro Cambria, a wealthy power broker whose unbelievably successful career in private equity made him one of Chicagos celebrated elite, discovers the limits and possibilities of cell phone range. While the mother of the bride, Susan Kennedy Cambria, who dabbles in the world of public relations and believes herself deserving of every square inch of her multimillion-dollar penthouse and imaginary carrara marble pedestal, learns about moonshine and dangerous liaisons.SoonBy Invitation Onlyzooms to Chicago, where the unraveling accelerates. Nearly a thousand miles away from her comfortable, familiar world, Diane is the antithesis of the bright lights and super-sophisticated guests attending her son Freds second engagement party. Why a second party? Maybe it had been assumed that the first one wouldnt be up to snuff? Fred is marrying Shelby Cambria, also an only child. The Cambrias dearest wish is for their daughter to be happy. If Shelby wants to marry Frederick, aka Fred, they will not stand in her wayalthough Susan does hope her friends wont think her daughter is marryingmore than a few degrees beneath her socially. At the same time, Diane worries that her son will be lost to her forever.By Invitation Onlyis a tale of two families, one struggling to do well, one well to do, and one young couplethe privileged daughter of Chicagos crme de la crme and the son of hard -working Southern peach farmers.Dorothea Benton Frank offers a funny, sharp, and deeply empathetic novel of two very different worldsof limousines and pickup trucks, caviars and pigs, skyscrapers and ocean sprayfilled with a delightful cast of characters who all have something to hide and a lot to learn. A difference in legal opinions, a headlong dive from grace, and an abrupt twist will reveal the truth of who they are and demonstrate, when it truly counts, what kind of grit they have. Are they living the life they want, what regrets do they hold, and how would they remake their lives if they were given the invitation to do so?By Invitation Onlyis classic Dorothea Benton Franka mesmerizing Lowcountry Tale that roars with spirit, humor, and truth, and forces us to reconsider our notions of what it means to be a Have or a Have Not.

New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank evokes a lush plantation in the heart of modern-day South Carolinawhere family ties and hidden truths run as deep and dark as the mighty Edisto River....Caroline Wimbley Levine always swore she'd never go home again. But now, at her brother's behest, she has returned to South Carolina to see about Motheronly to find that the years have not changed the Queen of Tall Pines Plantation. Miss Lavinia is as maddeningly eccentric as everand absolutely will not suffer the questionable advice of her children. This does not surprise Caroline. Nor does the fact that Tall Pines is still brimming with scandals and secrets, betrayals and lies. But she soon discovers that something is different this time around. It lies somewhere in the distance between her and her motherand in her understanding of what it means to come home....

?If I could only read one writer from now until the end of my life, it would be Dorothea Benton Frank." ?Elin Hilderbrand, the New York Times bestselling authorImmerse yourself in the enchanting world of New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank's Carolina Lowcountry in this evocative tale that returns at long last to her beloved Sullivans Island. Beekeeper Holly McNee Jensen quietly lives in a world of her own on Sullivans Island, tending her hives and working at the local island library. Holly calls her mother The Queen Bee because she's a demanding hulk of a woman. Her mother, a devoted hypochondriac, might be unaware that she's quite ill but that doesn't stop her from tormenting Holly. To escape the drama, Holly's sister Leslie married and moved away, wanting little to do with island life. Holly's escape is to submerge herself in the lives of the two young boys next door and their widowed father, Archie.Her world is upended when the more flamboyant Leslie returns and both sisters, polar opposites, fixate on what's happening in their neighbor's home. Is Archie really in love with that awful ice queen of a woman? If Archie marries her, what will become of his little boys? Restless Leslie is desperate for validation after her imploded marriage, squandering her favors on any and all takers. Their mother ups her game in an uproarious and theatrical downward spiral. Scandalized Holly is talking to her honey bees a mile a minute, as though they'll give her a solution to all the chaos. Maybe they will.Queen Bee is a classic Lowcountry Tale?warm, wise and hilarious, it roars with humanity and a dropperful of whodunit added for good measure by an unseen hand. In her twentieth novel, Dorothea Benton Frank brings us back to her beloved island with an unforgettable story where the Lowcountry magic of the natural world collides with the beat of the human heart.

The warm, wise and witty new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hurricane Sisters

A magical Christmas story filled with humour and Southern charm.