Lowcountry Summer

Filler book

This is what I refer to as a filler book-one written to flesh out the author's bank account while awaiting another story line to come to mind. I have always enjoyed the author's other books, but I feel she just tried to hard with this one.

9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Not a nice family at all

While Caroline seems bent on saving everyone else, she is fairly judgmental and certainly seems unable to relinquish control. Her obviouly cheating brother comes off as a hero even though he left his drunken wife with their four daughters for his new girlfriend. Appearences seem to rule her life. She seems to be a bit of a hypocrite with her own life. The bad ones are certainly bad while the good characters seem to be wonderful despite their faults, incuding hers. Not at all a favorite book.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

An Unpleasant Read

"Lowcountry Summer" by Dorothea Benton Frank is the long awaited sequel to "Plantation". It opens about ten years after the events of "Plantation". And I would recommend that you take the time to read "Plantation" to better understand the lives of Caroline Wimbley Levine, her mother Miss Lavinia her nemesis Frances Mae, her brother Trip and assorted other important secondary characters.

This is a lushly written novel depicting a family of what I came to see were southern snobs and know-it alls. Caroline just always seems to know what's best for everyone and has no compunction about doing something about it; whether anyone actually WANTS the help or not. She may have been written as a 'real' person, but she was a very unsympathetic person, with absolutely no empathy nor heart. I found her to be truly cold- hearted and subtly conniving and manipulative and by the end of the book I was rooting for Frances-Mae. Oddly enough the other characters except for her son and the characters that you are supposed to hate, have all been written as if they have no back-bone or brains of their own. Character development is very minimal and painful to watch, unfortunately, and whatever action that does take place is contrived and predictable.

I understand that not all women protagonists have to be written as "good" girls but some of this just went beyond the pale for me.

Had I heard mention another word about Yankee accents and how unpleasant they are I may have thrown the book out of the window. Of course I understand that this is a truly Southern book but I'd hate to think that this is what the entire south feels about the other 3/4 of the country.

Unfortunately, while I adored "Plantation" I really disliked "Lowcountry Summer". A great disappointment for me since we've waited so long for this book and I had such high hopes

7 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Very Disappointing

I love this author and could not wait to read this book especially since it was the sequel to "Plantation". I was so disappointed! First, there is nothing summer about this book. Without giving anything away, it centers around an accident. One chapter Caroline is a complete stuck up snob, the next a loving aunt and mom, the next chapter she is acting slutty, and then she is a busy body telling everyone how to act. It made me crazy! The story was so drawn out but I felt that something was missing. I can't say anything else except that this book left me wondering what was Ms. Frank thinking when she wrote it?

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Had Looked Forward To This Book

I had so looked forward to this book, but was ready to give up on it almost immediately. Every character was too overblown. Sad to say, I was totally disappointed.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

A disappointment

As a fan of Ms. Frank's previous books, I was very disappointed with Lowcountry Summer. The characters, particularly the narrator, Caroline, are unsympathetic and annoying. The plot is predictable and the attempts at humor are just not funny.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

entertaining Southern Fried family saga

In 2007 at Tall Pines, the family gathered to celebrate Caroline Wimbly Levine's forty-seventh birthday. Caroline has no problem with closing in on fifty as her focus on the family remains first and foremost in her mind. Her only son Eric (from the marriage with that English pig) is attending college at the University of South Carolina less than an hour drive away from home, but that could be on the other side of the Atlantic for how often he comes home. Caroline rationalizes that he probably feels freedom from her and his horde of other adult supervisors. His mom worries about him because he is living with an older woman and her child.

Caroline struggles with the rest of her family members at the gala. Her sister-in-law Frances Mae becomes drunk. Her nieces except perhaps the oldest Amelia must be adopted as they cannot share even partially her DNA as she considers them escaped convicts. Her brother Tripp has personal issues of a sexual kind. However, it is the family's late matriarch the recently departed Miss Lavinia who still from beyond controls the rowdy horde through Caroline.

This entertaining Southern Fried family saga returns readers to the Plantation for a Lowcountry Summer jamboree. The cast is solid but it is Caroline who wryly holds the plot together with her observation on others and her wit. Fans will enjoy the return as the child becomes the adult with Caroline having learned Miss Lavinia's life lessons.

Harriet Klausner

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Oh no she di'nt! Class & trash clash in Lowcountry Summer

Have you ever fallen in love with characters from a book and just hate when the book ends? I have too and I just love that Dorothea Benton Frank has brought back her wonderful characters from Plantation in her new offering, Lowcountry Summer.

Miss Caroline Wimbley, the Grand Dame of Tall Pines plantation, embodies the grace and elegance of a modern Southern Belle while attempting to incorporate traditional values in everyday life. On the other hand, her big ol' stupid "Hee Haw-in-law", Miss Frances Mae "who is married to Caroline's brother Trip, is Caroline's polar opposite. The contrasts of these two charters and their confrontations were always greatly anticipated throughout Plantation and now we get another helping of it here in Lowcountry Summer. But what could be better than reading about a throw-down between those two? How about Miss Caroline trying to tame and teach three of Frances Mae's daughters.two of whom have managed to embody the flat-foot-floozy hillbilly attributes of their mother while being the quintessential brooding, complaining teenagers.

Unfortunately for Caroline, Frances Mae has decided to drown the depression from her marital split in booze and ends up almost killing herself and her youngest daughter, Chloe, when she runs her car into a ditch. It becomes apparent that, although many rehab facilities have had their shot at reforming Frances Mae, it is now time to pull out the big guns and ship Miss Frances out to Promises in California for a two month intense intervention of her alcoholism. What follows is a series of events that test the mantel of Caroline, her son Eric, brother Trip and his girlfriend Rusty, and even Frances Mae's eldest daughter Amelia. To heap on insult to injury, Caroline's ex husband, Richard Levine, picks this particular time to show up and make a pitch for her attentions and brings his own woes to her doorstep. This is just the tip of the ice burg but worry not; all players are present to assist in the insanity including the sweet Mr. Jenkins and the Geechee Queen herself, Miss Millie.

Lowcounrty Summer moves along at a great pace with some wonderful pauses for accent and balance. D.B.F. manages to write about South Carolina in a way that will play out as a movie in your mind to the point you forget your reading a book. When she describes the sadness and love Caroline has for her mother, Miss Lavinia, I swear I could hear the "tinkling laugh of Miss Lavinia" not with my ears, but with my soul. I have never had such consistent reading pleasure out of another author the way I have for Dorothea Benton Frank and I highly suggest you treat yourself with Lowcountry Summer (or any of her great stories, really). I know you'll be happy you did!

3 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Extremely Disappointing

Like many other readers, I am a big fan of DBF and have read all her books, several of them twice. Being that Plantation is my favorite, I was very much looking forward to the sequel. After reading to just page 73, I was bored. I couldn't connect with or care about ANY of the characters so I'm not wasting my time finishing it. Not once did I smile or laugh during these first few chapters. Very unfortunate since with the other books, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Please, no more sequels. Stick to writing fresh, new stories.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

dorthea benton frank fan

I have read all DBF's books; couldn't wait for another to come out. However, I was a bit disappointed this time. It was good, but just not AS good as her previous ones, in my opinion. Hard to pinpoint just why, but it just wasn't worth all my anticipation. Maybe it's just been too long since I've read her books because of the lapse of time, but I was disappointed.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Not one of her better books

I couldn't really connect with the characters in this one. She is one of my favorite authors, but I found this book difficult to stick with. Plantation or Full of Grace are much more satisfying reads.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Really bad sequel

Terrible, terrible, terrible. Did the author even reread her notes from the first book, Plantation? Whatever happened to the love of her life, Jack Taylor....we only hear mention of him at the end of the book and he's married to a character who's never been mentioned. No explanation of how their relationship ended. Language changes were made which "dumbed-down" characters, and Caroline went from an intelligent, strong, southern woman, to a "bless her heart," hormonal, imp...seriously, what happened to this great character? I read these books one after the other and was unbelievably dissappointed. Ms. Frank, please don't write a sequel just because your fans want one, write one because you have a great story like you had the first time around.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

disappointing

I was so excited to read this book while relaxing on the beach at Wild Dunes. I really did not connect with the characters, more importantly, I suppose, I didn't like them very much. I have really enjoyed books by this author in the past, so I hope the next book has characters that I care about what happens to.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book to listen to!

Narraration of this book is excellent. I listen to books on CD/Ipod on my way to and from work to help the commute move faster. I didn't want to leave my car once I got to my destination!

My southern mother came back alive in this book... lots of laughs and some tears too!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Don't waste your time or money

I've read most of this author's books and enjoyed them all but this one is awful. All of the characters are annoying and do nothing but whine. Don't waste your time or money.

highly recommended

Enjoy all her writings. Haven't had time to hear this one. I am certain it will be enjoyable,

GREAT BOOK "COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN"

I don't know why this book is getting so many bad reviews. I started reading Ms. Frank's books about six months ago, and love everyone of them. If I like an author, I try to read all of their books in the order they were written.

After reading the reviews, I was a little skeptical about reading this one. However, in sticking to my "rules" about read in order, I am so glad I did. I could not put it down in
the anticipation of what was going to happen to Franis Mae, and the girls.

Read it!

Lowcountry summer

great book, love all of Benton Franks about Charleston and the surrounding area. You need to read the previous books in the series to really appreciate the story though.

I usually love Dorothea Benton Frank. Shem Creek in particular

I usually love Dorothea Benton Frank. Shem Creek in particular is a favorite of mine and I have read it several times. This book, however -- Godawful!! Just awful. I found myself disliking the characters that were supposed to be sympathetic - Caroline and Rusty. I was rooting for Frances Mae by the end. Plantation was a really enjoyable book, and I am not sure how Caroline went from the character she was in that book to an uppity, judgemental snob in the sequel. Eric's occasionally mentioned romance is another dumb story line. Please, please, DBF -- if you must write sequels, write with consistent characters and accurate storylines. I mean really...supposedly Rusty and Trip have now been together for ten years, but Chloe is seven? Wasn't there an editor? The book gets two stars for its descriptions of the low country,of fabulous food and parties, and of course, for Millie. Otherwise, read or reread one of DBFs excellent books.

A great follow up to Plantation.

This novel picks a few years after Plantation dropped off. I enjoyed it a lot, although it was somewhat sadder than what I'm used to from this author.