Customer Reviews

Pawleys Island: A Lowcountry Tale (Lowcountry Tales (Brilliance Audio))

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Wonderful characters who spout witty dialogue, the luscious South Carolina setting she is famous for, and hefty helpings of the food and manners bred as only the South can breed, make this latest offering from Dot Frank a true gem for lazy summer days. Even if you're not reading it on the beach, you will smell the salt air and experience the sand between your toes. The author puts you there as she has in her four previous books because she does local color better than most anyone writing today.

But it is the wonderful characters that will stay with you long after the last page is turned. Perhaps, Dot's most memorable creation to date is the inimitable Huey Valentine. He's the true Southern gentleman, dedicated to his art gallery and his menu planning, a devoted son to the aging and delightful Miss Olivia, and with a surprising twist that will leave you open-mouthed at the novel's spectacular ending. It is Huey who takes in runaway wife Rebecca and calls in his best friend, retired attorney Abigail Thurmond, to help Rebecca dissolve her marriage and get custody of her two children. Abigail is quite a creation herself, a middle-aged woman battling depression and shouldering huge amounts of guilt over the deaths of both her son and her husband. How Huey and Abigail find a purpose in life in helping Rebecca, how magnificently-drawn supporting characters like Charlene, the ultimate Redneck Woman, move the story along, and how life on Pawley's Island changes for the better, make this a most entertaining book.

Thank you, Dot Frank. You've done it again!

Dotttie Benton Frank's Lowcountry Tales are so much fun to read, so perfectly charming, that I snapped this new one up the minute it was available. I was not disappointed.

This fifth entry in Frank's wonderful Lowcountry series takes place on South Carolina's barrier island, Pawleys Island (I have learned so much about South Carolina's low country since reading these books and I want to visit so much!). Here we find the quirky, one-of-a-kind Huey Valentine, owner of an art gallery, and a throwback to the fine gentlemen of the Old South--with a very modern twist (I'll let readers find out for themselves). He lives on an impossibly elegant and beautiful plantation with his grand dame mother, Miss Olivia, and his houseman, Julian.

Best friend and former high-powered family law attorney Abigail Thurmond is there too, having retired from her practice in Columbia and come home to her family's shabby but much-loved cottage. Abigail is nursing deep wounds and is in danger of sinking into a depression when newly single mother Rebecca stumbles upon the scene.

Immediately, Huey, Abigail and Miss Olivia take this wronged wife under their collective wings...worming the story out of her as only genteel gossips can--and then opening up their homes and hearts to help her. The process of undoing the wrongs Rebecca's vile ex husband has heaped on her bring Abigail back to life, helping her, Rebecca, Rebecca's wronged children and everybody else in the process.

As always, the story is told with enough humor to make the reader guffaw, and enough truth and sensitivity to sooth any heart. An absolutey PERFECT summer read; snap it up!

Author Dorothea Benton Frank reads her fifth Low Country tale with confident charm, carrying listeners to a small South Carolina island. Those who enjoy low-key stories centering on family and friends with a touch of surprising excitement will find much to relish in this story.

Abigail Thurmond and Huey Valentine are an idyllic if unique pair. They're the best of friends, enjoying each other and the lazy-hazy days on Pawleys Island. Abigail, a retired attorney, came to he island from Columbia; Huey has lived there for some time with Miss Olivia, his 80-plus year old mother. Their home is he family plantation, and his business is Gallery Valentine, a shop that caters to decorators and all who enter there.

Enter Rebecca Simms, a gifted artist whose works Huey is happy to display. However, Rebecca isn't just visiting the Island, she's running from what has been too painful for her to endure. Leave it to Miss Olivia to find out exactly what that might be. Then leave it to Huey and Abigail to help heir new found friend.

An especially pleasing listen.

- Gail Cooke

I was terribly disappointed by this latest effort from Dorothea Benton Frank because I enjoyed her earlier stories about the Lowcountry. Being a resident of this area myself, I wanted to like the book, but the implausibility of the initial domestic relations situation was my first clue that I wasn't going to buy into this story. The complete bias of the court decision was a real slur to the Charleston County court system, which does not have a reputation for being so short-sighted as to remove all rights from a mother on hearsay. The other situations in this story are also too pat. The main character, Rebecca, hasn't held a job in years, or seriously worked on her art, but has the sudden good fortune to live in a wealthy friend's condo, successfully sell watercolor paintings for high prices, and be taken under the wing of a filthy rich, flamboyantly gay gallery owner, Huey Valentine. As with most of the characters in this book, Rebecca's new-found friend is a cliche and a caricature. Every black person in this book is a servant, speaks ungrammatical English, and refers to white people as "Miss" or "Mr." (Christian name). As someone who lives near Pawley Island, I assure you, dear readers, that these stereotypes of southern blacks is not true, and such portrayals do little to forward the image of the South. The author also should have researched domestic relations more thoroughly and presented the crisis more realistically. I don't know any ethical lawyer in South Carolina, or any other state, who would advise their client to meet their estranged, abusive husband for lunch on his transparent premise of letting her read letters from her children. Divorce and custody issues are not so black-and-white as they are in this tale. The majority of divorced or separated mothers do not get so lucky as to get free private investigators, have their lawyers become their new best friends, and have jobs fall into their laps. There also seems to be one set of rules for the father and an entirely separate set for the mother. Even after the long, drawn-out, but expected, happy ending, I found myself liking the mother less and less, as she continually refered to her husband's girlfriend as a "whore" to her teenaged children. This is not new-found assertiveness, but the same name-calling that she herself had been subjected to. One can only hope that the entire family gets themselves to counseling ASAP as the destructive behavior just goes on and on. Also, the bratty kids are not likely to suddenly change their behavior because mommy won the custody battle. After years of spoiled over-indulgence, within days they are charming, well-behaved and speak with respect.
I can only warn potential readers to read this novel with a grain of salt: if you believe the legal crap in one-hour television dramas, you'll buy into the implausibility of this story.

I adore Ms. Frank's storytelling and how she can lure the reader, from the first page, to the coastal beauty and charm of South Carolina. The characters in this book were real and jumped off the page for me.

Huey Valentine is a gallery owner living with his mama, Miss Olivia. A newcomer arrives named Rebecca and a whirlwind ensues. Turns out Nat, her husband, a loser of ALL losers!, has turned their kids against her and done some pretty kinky, weird stuff. Huey's dear friend, Abigail, enters the picture and is led to practice law once again - seeing that Rebecca's divorce settlement goes as it should.

The writing flows and as always, I love the little southern bits of the story here and there. It was alittle too predictable for me and there were some characteristics of Nat that were abit extreme and seemed unusual for Frank's writing.

After really not liking her last 2 books I reluctantly bought Pawleys Island not expecting much. I was pleasently surprised
on how much I enjoyed it. The characters were warm, charming and believable. I cared what happened to Rachel and her children, and I liked that Abigail pretty much told the story.
In all it was a good book, not as good as Sullivan's Island and Plantation, but far better then Shem Creek and Isle of Palms.
So if you were disappointed in her last few books give this one a try, and if you liked her last few books you should really love this one.

Oh what a lovely book. I live in the Charleston area right by Pawleys Island and my family has been here for over three generations. I have lived here for over fifty years and after my husband died (ALbert, but we all called him Red)three winters ago, I was left with nothing but books. I love to read, even though these days not as quickly as in my youth. I am not alone anymore now that I have books. I have never in all my life come across dearer friends than those in Miss. Dorothea's books. This great American novel slices a real peice of life on our island. Reading her book made me feel like I knew the characters. I have read every one of Ms. Franks books and must say that they only get better. I am waiting on the edge of my rocker for her next book. Thank you Dorothea Frank for writing such sweet, real and entertainig books!!!

Wow! I don't think I've ever seen so many exclamation points! In one novel! Good golly, Miss Molly! Or, to quote the character, Rebecca, "Holy Hell!"

But seriously...I have read other books by this author and liked them very much. I own a time share in Myrtle Beach (not unfortunately, a luxury condo in Litchfield like one of the characters) so it was enjoyable to read about places I have been, like the Hammock Shops. Where there is a Christmas shop! And it sells adorable ornaments with shrimp wearing Santa hats! (Oh, sorry, I digress.)

I completely agree with the views by another reviewer. No judge in his right mind would have awarded custody to Rebecca's husband (who was evidently a loving and lovable husband for years and then inexplicably turned into Attila the Hun). Abigail is retired from the law but has the good fortune to be able to live in her old childhood home on Pawley's Island which is rundown but has a four-star view of the ocean. She does nothing, at least at the beginning of the novel, but play golf and tennis and hang around with her gay friend Huey (whom she adores!) but somehow is unable to find the time to dust her own home and must find a black woman (of course) to do it for her who just happens to be the college-educated sister of Huey's black (of course) servant (who turns out not to be a servant at all). To make this politically correct, the sister is just trying to earn money for graduate school. When Abigail takes Rebecca's case on, she needs lawyer clothes...does she go to Belk, or the Coastal Grande Mall? Certainly not! She goes to Charleston and buys two Armani suits! Of course, who wouldn't? Rebecca objects to the kids using bad language but refers to her husband's mistress as "Daddy's whore." Ugh! Need I go on?

Abigail does not cook but why worry? All she has to do is invite herself over to Huey's plantation for gourmet meals on the terrace overlooking the river, or Huey shows up at her house with beluga caviar, blinis, pate and champagne. Rebecca has a friend (the one with the condo in Litchfield--of course, who doesn't) which is conveniently available for her to move into when she is kicked out of her home by her husband and her horrible children...who in the course of a page and a half late in the book turn into complete charmers whom everybody loves. Oh, did I mention that these children also are unable to lift a dustrag so when Rebecca regains her home she must clean it. But how lucky! Her friends are there! And they clean it for her! And Huey shows up with six bags of groceries! And Rebecca gets a call from Katie Couric who says "you go, girlfriend!" and an interview on the Today Show. And then there is the judge who Abigail had an affair with, which so depressed her husband (that and the unfortunate death of their son) that he became an alcoholic, gained too much weight which ruined his knees, and died during knee surgery...but after Abigail resumes her affair with the judge she senses the loving and approving presence of her husband and son. Give me a break!

Apologies to all the reviewers who loved this book. I wanted to love it...I really did. But real life is just not like this.

I just finished Pawley's Island and now I've read all of MS. Franks books. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed every single one of them. She's a wonderful writer and I especially love her sense of humor. It's such a let down not having one of her books to read. I guess you can tell that I'm a great fan of her work. I can hardly wait for the next one to come out. It was a very good read.

Jane Templeman

Very entertaining, light reading. I have enjoyed all of this author's works, with Plantation being the be all to end all. Enjoyable characters, lots of laughs, especially in the courtroom with the husband and his mistress and her [...] enhancement issues. Four stars instead of five, I enjoyed it immensely, but it's only a beach book and not a classic.