More, please!

Sullivan’s Island was my first experience with this author. But it certainly shan’t be my last! I am now anxious to read more of her work. And speaking of more, I wish there had been more of this story, too. I wasn’t ready to be done with these characters. (Yay! According to the author’s website; she has a sequel to this book, just out!)

Ms. Frank grew up on the island, so her descriptions are heartfelt and full bodied. The sound of the surf washes through your mind as you read, while wiggling your own toes in the ‘sand’. You can’t help but inhabit her characters, loving and fussing with your siblings, helping each other to bear up under the tyranny of a dysfunctional father and a weak mother, each deriving strength from the one solid presence in the house, Livvie, the housekeeper (now there’s a character I’d like to read more of!). Seeing how the bonds forged in childhood, held steady through time for some of the siblings; how others escaped the island, but realized, in the end, the bonds still held.

Told in the voice of the main character, Susan Hayes, in alternating chapters of the present (1999) and her child/young adult-hood (1963), it is a story of a family of children who ‘come up’, as opposed to being ‘brought up’, on Sullivan Island, South Carolina, in their old family home, named Island Gamble. And the story of the two oldest sisters - Susan, who moved off the island, but lives nearby with her husband and daughter, and Maggie, who inherited the old home place, and is raising her family there. The relationship of the sisters is especially well written, in both their youth and maturity.

Lest you think this nothing but a maudlin tale, it is not. It is a vibrant story. Of choices and the lessons learned from them. Of learning to be the best that you can be, regardless of circumstances, or a difficult start in life. Of joy. ( )

One of the best books I've read in a long time. The characters were great fun to read about and were such interesting realistic people. Will definetly read more by Benton Frank. This is one of the few books I will keep and read again. ( )

If this book were food I'd eat it everyday & be the healthiest woman in America. Ms Benton Frank has mastered the art of balanced writing. Funny & educational, perfect settings, hello, the beach! love, revenge, food, family, ghosts, teenagers, divorce, sex, & of course, the Church. & Simon. Yum. ( )

Sullivan's Island was my first Dorothea Benton Frank novel, but I'll be reading others. It's easy reading, humorous in parts, sad in others, filled with local color [set around Charleston and Sullivan's Island, South Carolina].

Frank takes the somewhat cliched story of a woman done wrong by her lawyer husband and deftly turns it into a self-deprecating memoir. Susan Hayes is an interesting character. In the year after her marriage breaks up - she does the usual womanly things - losing weight, getting a new hairstyle, going on the funniest awful date of all time - but she also delves into her own past on Sullivan's Island - faces her own demons - and emerges strong and confident. Not a cliche at all, but an interesting journey.

I liked Susan and I like what Frank has to say about the human spirit. ( )

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