Rating: Summary: Could not put this one down! Review: I loved this book and just ordered DBF's other novel and urge her to keep writing! I don't think Sullivans Island left my hands for the couple of days that I read it. I was so sad when it ended, having enjoyed Susan's trials and triumphs!As with so many great novels, the setting is part of the story. I now want to see the lush low country of South Carolina, ht ewatery imagaery is so appropriate to the story! Susan is a likable heroine. I enjoyed the alternating settings of 1963 and 1999- I always wondered what was happening in each. DBF found a true voice for both of Susan's eras. The other characters, her beloved Livvie and wise sister Maggie ring equally true. I wish that there could have been a bit more emotion when she solved her father's murder. This was an entertaing, emotional, and truly captivating novel!
Rating: Summary: Marvelous!! Review: What a great book. The characters and storyline are very realistic and alive with humor and grace. I am so glad I took my time reading it. I actually hugged it when I was through. Warmed my heart and made me wish I was a Geechee girl!
Rating: Summary: Delicious Book! Review: I picked this up in a bookstore on a snowy (!) day in South Carolina while we were vactioning. . wow, it certainly warms you up quickly! Loved it, the characters are so very real and offer their happenings and lives to you in a real Southern way. . full of feeling! I think everyone will enjoy this great first novel! I certainly did! Bravo!
Rating: Summary: There's no place like home Review: Susan Hayes is a character that you can't just forget ... nor is this a book you can just put down and forget. No sir. Susan is a woman in her 40s dealing with an ex-husband who strays and a turblent teenage daughter and in the process, finds herself again. Set in the steamy and stormy landscape of South Carolina ~~ Susan deals with her troubled childhood and finds the truth that set her free as an adult. Traveling back and forth between Charleston and the Island, Susan finds comfort and refuge in her childhood home and with her sister, Maggie. And though written with droll humor ~~ this book will keep you in stitches. It's wonderfully written and a wonderful book to keep you turning the pages. It's not just a light read ~~ it's a book about life that most women go through in their journeys in life ~~ and it's a fanastic book. Susan is the woman you dream of having as your best girlfriend ~~ someone to giggle with and cry with. And though difficulties beset her ~~ she was always armed with humor. And the memories of her suggorate mother, Livvie, keeps her going. It's a fun book to read and just like Frank's second book, The Plantation, it's full of humor and sass. You have to read this book and lose yourself from the realities of life in the harsh winter of the north for a few hours. It's a fun read ~~ one that you can read again and again. 1-23-02
Rating: Summary: Now aint the South great! Review: This is one of those books you should start to read at the beginning of a long weekend because once you get started, you won't want to put it down. Entertaining, funny, insightful and most of all, makes me feel like I'm not the only babyboomer, single mom in the world who knows that some times it's just better NOT TO ANSWER THE PHONE. Before I settled down to read for my second marathon day yesterday, I went on the internet; got a great recipe for red beans and rice and put it on the stove to simmer away for 5 hours. It just made me enjoy the book a little more, knowing I was doing my part to support southern tradition.
Rating: Summary: Sullivan's Island Review: Recently, a friend presented me a copy of "Sullivan's" to read. It is not the genre I would normally choose to read, nevertheless, I decided to read the novel based on the positive reaction by the supplier. The book has a strong multidimensional character in the protagonist, Susan, who helps the reader remember that laughter and humor are the recipe to surving joyless times especially when dealing with family, love and despondency. The book is better than a mere beach book because of Frank's quality of writing. It is a good book.
Rating: Summary: Tears in my eyes the whole time Review: This book is so creativly written. I couldn't keep it out of my hands. I laughed, I cried, I sighed. I totally reccommend this book!
Rating: Summary: great book Review: This book is wonderful. There's humor, hope, sadness, anger,... just all the emotions. Because the chapters switch from present to past, you find yourself always wanting to read more to find out what happens in the past (or present). I found myself really identifying with the main character (Susan), but also with several other characters; they are all written very well and multideminsional. There's a lot of Southern humor in the book too what with all the "big" dishes to bring a family after a funeral, it being indecent for men to wear sandles [hairy toes, hee hee], and the constant references to iced tea. Wish it was co-cola and note coca cola, but hey, can't have everything. I also with that in the bit of history about the actual island, there was information about it being the "ellis island" of African Americans as it was the main place of slave importation in colonial America. Loved the stuff about Gulluh people and the actual bits of that language. Think I'll keep this book to reread someday if I ever forget it enough for it to be a "surprise" again.
Rating: Summary: Fun, cute, and entertaining Review: I thought that this book was a pleasure to read. It was very entertaining and fun. I especially liked the relationship between the mother and daughter, they were very close and seemed to be good friends. The way that Frank alternates between two different time periods added to the story. It made you think more and piece together the story of her life. Overall this was a very good book, filled with humor and real life situations. I highly recomend it.
Rating: Summary: A Novel to Savor Review: Let Dorothea Benton Frank take you to Sullivan's Island where you will meet Susan, both as an adult and as a child. Along with Susan, there is a lively cast of characters. The Hamilton children were a rowdy and rambunctious group. Coupled with an always angry father and an emotionally weak mother, the children were left to their own devices, until Livvie was hired as the housekeeper. Susan Hayes, (nee Hamilton) has had a difficult life, many childhood losses; raising children before her time; a lost true love; and the betrayal of the one she ended up marrying. Travel with Susan as she reflects on her childhood and on her present trials with both class and grace. Join Susan's journey as she discovers more about herself than she has ever known. Sullivan's Island is an enjoyable read, it is not a quick page-turner, rather it is a novel that deserves to be savored. Read Sullivan's Island and share it with your friends!
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