Pat Conroy has called her books hilarious and wise, noting that they are funny, sexy and usually damp with sea water. Anne Rivers Siddons said of Sullivans Island that it roared with life. Now Dorothea Benton Frank takes us back to the Lowcountry to introduce a whole new cast of characters whose lives will surely move your heart.
Linda Breland has no experience managing a restaurant, but then neither did Brad Jackson, and he owns the place.
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. Lindas 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 islets 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 theres Brad Jackson, a former investment banker of Atlanta, Georgia who hires her to run his restaurant on Shem Creek. Like everyone else, Brads got a story of his ownnamely 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.
As in all her previous work, youll find Shem Creek to be compulsively readable, irreverent but warm and blazingly authenticand youll dread reaching the last page. It is her vivid writing, colorful characters and rich narrative that have made Dorothea Benton Frank one of our nations greatest storytellers. Shem Creek is a triumphant novel that proves we are all entitled to a second chance. The challenge is to learn how to recognize it when it comes and to know which chance to take.
From Publishers Weekly Frank ( Isle of Palms ) delivers another novel rich in the charms of smalltown South Carolina, the fourth in her bestselling Lowcountry series. Linda Breland, a single mother tired of living hand-to-mouth in New Jersey, decides to move herself and her two teenage daughters to her distant hometown of Mount Pleasant, S.C., where her sister, Mimi, still lives. Linda's straight-shooting style impresses local restaurateur Brad Jackson, who hires her to manage his restaurant; hints of a future romance are about as subtle as a kitchen fire. Frank easily, breezily shifts among her multiple first-person narrators. In Linda and Mimi, she explores two very different lives: Mimi is divorced, childless and neat as a pin; Linda is outspoken, maternal and frank about her teenage pregnancy and youthful marriage, which fell apart when her husband's mid-life crisis sent him into the arms of a younger woman. Similarly, Linda's daughtersdependable Lindsay, who is starting college in the fall, and smart-mouthed Gracie, whose penchant for hanging out with the wrong crowd helped fuel her mother's desire to moveoffer a marvelous sibling contrast. The strong pull of friendship, the leisurely pace of a tiny, waterfront Southern town, and the steady buildup of romance help buoy Frank's well-drawn, memorable characters in the face of life's challenges.
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Review Dorothea Benton Frank represents the best of fiction. -- News and Record [Greensboro, NC]

lgrsfic/R:\0day\eng\tuebl 111000 2015-02 files\Frank, Dorothea Benton-Shem Creek.epub

Shem creek : a lowcountry tale

Dorothea Benton Frank

Random House, Incorporated

Penguin Random House LLC

Berkley Books

Place of publication not identified, 2005

United States, United States of America

Penguin Random House LLC, [N.p.], 2005

Lowcountry Tales, 2005

New York, 2014

1st, 2005

lg_fict_id_1456374

“The strong pull of friendship, the leisurely pace of a tiny, waterfront Southern town, and the steady buildup of romance help buoy Frank’s well-drawn, memorable characters” (Publishers Weekly) in this New York Times bestseller.
Meet Linda Breland, single parent of two teenage daughters—one of whom is headed off to college. Between that and the married men, the cold New Jersey winters, her pinched wallet, and her ex-husband who married a beautiful, successful woman ten years younger than she is—let’s just say Linda has seen enough to fill a thousand pages. Now she’s bound for Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the magical landscape of her ancestors. Welcomed by the help of her advice-dispensing sister and an intriguing ex–investment banker turned restaurant owner, Linda slowly begins to find her way and realize that she, too, is entitled to a second chance....

2015-12-07