The Land of Mango Sunsets: A Novel [Hardcover]

Dorothea Benton Frank (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2007

Her sleazy 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. And 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 figure out that it's not pride that's going to keep her warm at night . . .

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A middle-aged woman's self-discovery is predictable but not pedestrian in Frank's (Full of Grace; Pawleys Island) latest. A divorce has stalled Miriam Swanson's life: her snooty Hermès-swathed Manhattan friends abandoned her after her ex-husband "ran off with his whore"; one of her grown sons keeps her at arm's length, while her other son, a "nice nerd," stays beneath the family radar for months at a time; and the major drawback to her job at a museum is her boss—icy former friend Agnes Willis. In a twist that stretches disbelief, Miriam catches Agnes's husband, Truman, having a noisy rendezvous with Liz, the cute new tenant in Miriam's townhouse. After a brief interlude that sends Miriam to a South Carolina barrier island to visit her former cotillion queen mother—and meet the dreamy local Harrison Ford ("Not that wimpy actor")—Miriam reveals Truman's affair, with consequences that fuel the remainder of the book. Frank's narrative is heavy on healing—physically, mentally—and the importance of family, and though her sometimes delightfully nasty heroine is sympathetic, supporting cast members have one note apiece. This isn't Frank's finest, but it'll sate her fans. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

Miriam Elizabeth Swanson's life is one big pity party. Her husband of 20-plus years has traded her in for a newer model, her grown sons avoid her like the plague, and, likewise, her so-called society friends treat her like she's the poster girl for the Ebola virus. If all that weren't bad enough, her once-deluxe Manhattan town house has been carved up into apartments because she needs the rent to make ends meet, and her mother has morphed into a pot-smoking, aging hippie down at the family homestead in the Carolina Low Country. But when a new young tenant is brutally attacked by her lover, who happens to be married to one of Miriam's erstwhile friends, Miriam experiences an epiphany that transforms her from a dour, nay-saying shrew into an upbeat, understanding confidant. Shedding her emotional baggage along with, let's face it, a few pounds, Miriam learns the redemptive power of forgiveness and turns her life into a joyous celebration of family and friends. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060892382
• ISBN-13: 978-0060892388
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #573,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am the author of eleven novels placed in and around the Lowcountry of South Carolina and thanking God for my chance to speak. When I'm not writing, I'm reading or gardening or cooking. Love to travel, shoot the bull with people and most of all, be with my husband, children and dogs - not always necessarily in that order. Just finished my eleventh book - Lowcountry Summer for William Morrow and it will come out June 15, 2010. Love to have company so come visit at www.dotfrank.com. And by the way, serious huge gushing thanks for everything - your kind words and emails. Writing saves me, but without your support it wouldn't mean much. (So I'm a little sappy and sentimental - big deal.) xxoo Dot

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dot Frank Is Better Than Ever With Characters, Setting, and Plot to Warm Your Heart, July 21, 2007

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Land of Mango Sunsets: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is the best book by Dorothea Benton Frank since she penned the original SULLIVAN'S ISLAND and the follow-up PLANTATION. Why? Because with her deft skill and tremendous talent for creating local color, she has given us not only the charm and peacefulness of the Carolina Low Country but the frenetic, struggling- for- survival pace of New York City which adds even more humor and pathos than ever before.

Miriam Elizabeth Swanson is a whimpering divorcee still ruffled by the fact her no-good husband dumped her for his younger, thinner girlfriend, a lingerie model to boot. Forced to rent the upper floors of her townhouse in order to make ends meet and still desperate to be a part of the society that rejects her at the same time her husband does, Miriam is none too likeable. In fact, I'm thinking why should I care about this woman? She has broken ties with her sons, rejected one's wife and children and has nothing good to say about the other's live-in lover. She is so wrapped up in herself and her desire to be a society queen bee that I was almost pulling against her. But then a coffee urn and a totally despicable director of volunteers changed my mind and Miriam's life forever. Sullivan's Island, as only Dot Frank can describe it, morphed uptight Miriam into the laid-back and totally sympathetic Mellie.

Miriam/Mellie makes coming home a journey to remember and comes to understand "...all that predictability in coming home, that there was a time when you could depend on the fact that you were wanted, missed, welcomed, and really loved by someone who knew you and loved you despite your flaws."

Loved she is by her quirky mother, Miss Josie, and the stunning man Mellie assumes is her mother's beau, the too-good-to-be-true-so-grab-him-fast Harrison Ford (not the actor.) Mellie splits her time between Sullivan's Island and New York and we are charmed by her friends in both places. In New York there is the irrepressible Harry, a parrot with a vocabulary to die for, and Kevin, a successful window dresser and the dearest friend a woman could ever have, plus Liz, the tenant that Miriam/Mellie unwittingly sets up for a traumatic experience. In the Low Country, the aforementioned Miss Josie and Harrison as well as Manny Sinkler help Miriam/Mellie realize the life she deserves and wants can be hers. She only has to get her priorities straight, and when she does, her cup runneth over with love given and love returned.

Frank has woven a great story of mending fences and reconnecting with the important parts of your past while letting go of the hurtful parts. She has given us the unbeatable combination of great characters, charming settings, and an uplifting story. That's why her work is always a favorite of mine.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brava, Dottie!, April 27, 2007

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Land of Mango Sunsets: A Novel (Hardcover)

How did we live without Dorothea Benton Frank? Each book she writes is better than the last. Every time I think I've died and gone to heaven, as in Sullivan's Island, Shem Creek, and all the rest, she comes up with a new, unique set of characters that win my heart forever.

Meet Miriam, an uptight (to the point of being ridiculous) divorced New Yorker whose entire life is wound around her status in various society committees. My first reaction was, "ewwwww, who wants to read about this shallow person?" Of course I was dead wrong...as I learned in short order, when I met Harry the Bird, a character in his own right, and Kevin, the gender-bending, absolutey fabulous window designer who is not only Miriam's tenant, but her best friend.

And THEN, we find out that our uptight Miriam is really a bona fide geechee girl, from Sullivan's Island, and once we fly down south with her to visit her wonderful mother Miss Josie, and to share in all the traditions and the lifestyle with which Miriam grew up, we entirely forgive her. Especially when she becomes "Miss Mellie," which is a story in itself.

The book goes faster and faster, and gets better and better, and then all of a sudden it is finished, and readers like me are left to beg: "Please, Dottie, may I have another?"

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching and funny with great characters, August 10, 2007

By 

Chele T "love to read" (CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Land of Mango Sunsets: A Novel (Hardcover)

A story about a woman of a certain age that finds herself challenging some long-held assumptions and habits. The story is filled with quirky, fun characters and will have you both laughing and crying. A very touching story with enough twists and turns to keep your interest.