10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Rochelle Alers, April 28, 2004
This review is from: Lessons of a Lowcountry Summer (Paperback)
Along with Brenda Jackson she is one of my favorite black romance authors. Although this is a mainstream book it is still a story centered around male and female relationships and of course some romance. I loved the story of the 3 characters all ending up on Mckinnon Island in South Carolina. You have Rebecca who is trying to shake-up her marriage and get her husband to appreciate her and then of course the main character, Dr. Hope who has all the answers except for herself. It is kinda predictable that Dr. Hope will fall in love with the male lead character Theo. But it is still heart-warming just the same to see them grow together and of course consummate their relationship. The steamy love scenes add to the story and are not at all too long or over-written. I just don't believe you can go wrong with a Brenda Jackson or Rochelle Alers book whether it be romance or mainstream and this book is just another one that proves that.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Carry Your Burdens to the Island of the Ancestors, August 18, 2004
This review is from: Lessons of a Lowcountry Summer (Paperback)
Rochelle Alers is known for delivering character driven storylines, fabulous settings, fascinating culture and spine tingling romance and in this, women's mainstream genre, there is no exception. In Lessons of a Lowcountry Summer, set in Charleston, South Carolina and the Sea Island of Edisto Island off the coast of the Carolinas, readers are treated to a lesson in American and African American History.
Hope Sutton grew up spending her summers on the island under the tutelage of her beloved Geechee maternal grandmother. There she soaked up the culture, language and all it has to offer. It is there she flees to the house her grandmother left her when her love life spirals out of control. A psychologist and radio personality/columnist, things were looking good. Hope is considering an offer to host a television talk show and the man that she loves has asked her to marry him. All is right with the world until she is thrown into a tailspin. The island becomes a refuge, a place where she can reflect, heal and work on the book she has been wanting to write.
Rebecca Owens of Charleston has had the best of everything, an affluent lifestyle, a loving husband and beautiful children but lately she feels she has been taken for granted. And then there is the little matter of her husband's past affair which she thought she had made peace with. When Rebecca takes the bold step to take a vacation alone to decide where her life is going, she has no idea she will encounter the beautiful cultural traditions of Edisto Island. She embraces the island, the colorful people and culture and in doing so, she takes up the cause of preserving the island and the culture from encroaching land developers. But on the island there is also temptation.
Theo Howell, a renowned writer has had three younger siblings practically dropped into his lap. His deceased mother may not have been a parent to him, but he is determined to do right by his younger siblings. In working through his issues of raising three grieving, resentful teenagers and dealing with his own issues of abandonment, he now realizes how isolated he has been until he comes in contact with a beautiful, intelligent woman on the island. Can these three souls find what they are looking for on this beautiful island?
The food, settings, culture and island sites are a travel log of Edisto Island. Secondary characters, residents of Edisto Island, are enchanting as they share cultural aspects such as basket weaving and fishing. This reviewer, who has always been fascinated with the Sea Islands was pulled into the settings and delighted in learning that the Gullah and Geechee people are one and the same. No doubt Ms. Alers has garnered new fans with this offering.
Dera Williams
APOOO BookClub
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Let's Get Away, November 6, 2004
This review is from: Lessons of a Lowcountry Summer (Paperback)
Ms. Rochelle Alers takes you on a visit to the South Carolina Sea Island of McKinnon where she introduces you to the Gullah culture along with three trouble people on a mission who becomes the closet of friends.
Hope Sutton is a psychologist/journalist and to those who read her daily column she is Dr. Hope, but to those closest to her she is the baby girl of the Sutton family. When Hope finds her boyfriend of three years in a compromising situation, she isn't sure what to do next. She decides to return to her roots to find herself.
Rebecca Owens was a stay at home wife/mom with a husband who didn't understand her and children who used her. When Rebecca decides to take a summer off from everyone all hell is sure to break loose.
Theodore Howell is one of Hollywood's profound African American playwrights. When his estranged mother dies and leaves him to care for his three half siblings his life is turned upside down. Theodore has a script deadline fast approaching and is not sure what to do. Not knowing which way to go, he follows his agent's advice and takes a vacation.
The three main characters in Lessons Of A Low Country all shared one thing in common; they were looking for their themselves. This book makes excellent reading for anyone who enjoys humor and self-reflection.
Missy B
R.E.A.L Reviewers
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