PAWLEY'S ISLAND by Dorothea Benton Frank
Anyone who reads PAWLEY'S ISLAND and doesn't immediately want to head for the shore is missing the basic influence of this story. South Carolina's favorite author, Dorothea Benton Frank, fills her latest novel with so much aura and aroma you can almost feel the sand between your toes and the breeze on your face. At the same time she also provides one of the best-written stories about love and friendship imaginable. Yes, Dottie Frank has done it again and readers everywhere are richer for it.
PAWLEY'S ISLAND is not so much about the island itself as the atmosphere the island creates. There people live together, work together, and take care of each other. This is what Rebecca Simms finds when she flees there from Charleston. Her marriage has disintegrated and her dreams for her life are in shambles.
Luckily she meets Huey Valentine who owns a gallery on the island. He gives her a job and a place to show her artwork. He further gives her a shoulder to cry on, and an introduction to his best friend Abigail Thurmond. Abigail is a retired attorney but when she learns of how mistreated Rebecca has been at the hands of her evil ex, she decides to rejoin the practice of law.
Abigail, Huey and Rebecca are a triumvirate of determination once this latest cause gets them enthused. They can right any wrong and vanquish any wrongdoer, or at least make a dadgum good attempt. Watching them do this is the fun of the story.
Dottie Frank breathes life into her characters at the start of her stories and makes them live on long after the tale has been told. Perhaps these characters will show up in future books or maybe they won't. Whatever the case they have become the readers' friends for life.
The South Carolina low country is one of the most beautiful areas on earth. Frank makes it shimmer and shine with her words, and then she brings the most gracious people to walk the shores and live their stories. It is magical and a real treat for those who like their stories served breezy and bright. PAWLEY'S ISLAND is all that and more.
So take your summer vacation early. Visit PAWLEY"S ISLAND with Dorothea Benton Frank as your tour guide. It will be one of the best trips you have ever made.
PAWLEY'S ISLAND is published by Berkley Books. It contains 316 pages and sells for $24.95.