Return to Sullivans Island: A Novel (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Frank (Sullivan's Island) creates a world in which aspiring writer Beth Hayes, whose chirpy internal monologues and quiet uncertainties make her easily endearing, is as much a character as the house she lives in. After graduating from college in Boston, Beth returns to the South to spend a year house-sitting her family's home, Island Gamble, while her mother, Susan, visits Paris. Frank's portrayal of a large and complicated family is humorous and precise: there's Susan, adoring and kind; Aunt Maggie, a stickler for manners; twin aunts Sophie and Allison, who run an exercise-and-vitamin empire; and uncles Timmy and Henry, the latter of whom has ties to Beth's trust fund. Frank's lovable characters occasionally stymie her pace; there's almost no room left for Beth's friends or her love affairs with sleazy Max Mitchell and cherubic Woody Morrison, though these become important later on. Frank is frequently funny, and she weaves in a dark undercurrent that incites some surprising late-book developments. Tight storytelling, winsomely oddball characters and touches of Southern magic make this a winner. (July)
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Review

Tight storytelling, winsomely oddball characters and touches of Southern magic make this a winner. (Publishers Weekly )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (June 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061438456
• ISBN-13: 978-1615232109
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,948 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Makes me VERY sad to say this, July 2, 2009

By	Holly Kincaid "Book addict" (Fishers, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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..... but this book is just bad. I tried to find another way to say it and make my comments softer, but I felt that would have been dishonest and a disservice to people looking for honest reviews to help make decisions about what to purchase and to read.

I faithfully read Dorothea Benton Frank books and largely love them. I have read "Sullivan's Island", "Plantation" and almost all the others including "The Land of Mango Sunsets" which I recommended to anyone who would listen to me. When I was able to select this via the Vine program, I felt like I had hit the lottery since I was already on the wait list at the library even before it came out.

With that background in mind, I have to say this book was really pretty awful. Had I not agreed to review it for Amazon and had I not been such a fan I think I would have probably stopped reading by the half way point. There is so much wrong with the book that I can't even begin to recount it all. I started writing notes in the front of the book of examples of the really terrible character development and the dialogue that was often so bad as to be funny. As soon as the characters are introduced you know who's the bad guy, who's the good guy, the romance that will fail and the romance that will succeed. There is no mystery or tension here -- it's telegraphed at the beginning and you just read along until what you knew was going to happen actually happens. The characters are shallow and largely irritating (the main character, Beth, is a recent graduate of Boston College who speaks like a pre-teen girl and has decision making abilities worse than my own 14-year-old). Usually DBF books have humor and wit that is hard to match by other authors but this novel lacked both and the ending was so jarring as to appear like it just got tacked on without thought -- she needed to get it finished under a deadline?

Again, overall, I am a huge fan of DBF and will try again with her next effort...keeping my fingers crossed that it's significantly better. Had I not been in the position of loving this author previously, I might have even given it 1-star. It reads like the efforts of a first time novelist rather than the powerhouse author she can be.

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another Dorothea Benton Frank disappointment, June 27, 2009

By	Emereld2 (USA) - See all my reviews

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I really wanted to like this book! I found Frank's book Sullivan's Island years ago and really enjoyed it. Her books have steadily gone downhill since, but I grabbed Return to Sullivan's Island as soon as I saw it, hoping it would reverse the trend.

Unfortunately, it did not. Cecily was the only female character really worth getting to know, and she was a strong but secondary character. The protagonist, Beth, is a newly-minted college graduate who is pressured to put her life on hold for a year and return to the family's house on Sullivan's Island. She does so, but resentment rolls off of her in waves. She does finally come to terms with her decision, but then makes one foolish choice after another. Even worse, she knows they are bad choices, but plunges in headfirst anyways.

The plot was heavy-handed and the entire story lacked subtlety, probably because all of the characters were stereotypes: the dutiful daughter, the judgmental matriarch, the good ole boys, Mr. Wrong-but-oh-so-delicious, etc. Finally, the conflict was resolved much too easily.

If this book was a cheap paperback, it would be an okay beach read. Not worth the hardcover price, however.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Return to Sullivan's Island, July 18, 2009

By	Joyce (Walnut Creek, CA) - See all my reviews

I have read Dorothea Benton Frank's Lowcountry books over the years and this was the biggest disappointment. Don't we have enough Ponzi schemes and bodies stuffed in freezers in our every day newspapers? Dorothea should return to what the lowcountry is all about with beautiful islands and beaches along with the old traditions.