Review & Giveaway: The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank (CLOSED)

Title: The Hurricane Sisters    

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank    

Published: June 2014, William Morrow   

Format: Hardcover, 320 pages   

Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours  

Hurricane season begins early and rumbles all summer long, well into September. Often people’s lives reflect the weather and The Hurricane Sisters is just such a story.

Once again Dorothea Benton Frank takes us
deep into the heart of her magical South Carolina Lowcountry on a
tumultuous journey filled with longings, disappointments, and, finally, a
road toward happiness that is hard earned. There we meet three
generations of women buried in secrets. The determined matriarch, Maisie
Pringle, at eighty, is a force to be reckoned with because she will
have the final word on everything, especially when she’s dead wrong. Her
daughter, Liz, is caught up in the classic maelstrom of being
middle-age and in an emotionally demanding career that will eventually
open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz’s beautiful
twenty-something daughter, Ashley, whose dreamy ambitions of her
unlikely future keeps them all at odds.

Luckily for Ashley, her wonderful older
brother, Ivy, is her fierce champion but he can only do so much from San
Francisco where he resides with his partner. And Mary Beth, her dearest
friend, tries to have her back but even she can’t talk headstrong
Ashley out of a relationship with an ambitious politician who seems
slightly too old for her.

Actually, Ashley and Mary Beth have yet to
launch themselves into solvency. Their prospects seem bleak. So while
they wait for the world to discover them and deliver them from a
ramen-based existence, they placate themselves with a hare-brained
scheme to make money but one that threatens to land them in huge trouble
with the authorities.

So where is Clayton, Liz’s husband? He seems
more distracted than usual. Ashley desperately needs her father’s love
and attention but what kind of a parent can he be to Ashley with one
foot in Manhattan and the other one planted in indiscretion? And Liz,
who’s an expert in the field of troubled domestic life, refuses to
acknowledge Ashley’s precarious situation. Who’s in charge of this
family? The wake-up call is about to arrive.

The Lowcountry has endured its share of war
and bloodshed like the rest of the South, but this storm season we watch
Maisie, Liz, Ashley, and Mary Beth deal with challenges that demand
they face the truth about themselves. After a terrible confrontation
they are forced to rise to forgiveness, but can they establish a new
order for the future of them all?

Frank, with her hallmark scintillating wit
and crisp insight, captures how a complex family of disparate characters
and their close friends can overcome anything through the power of love
and reconciliation. This is the often hilarious, sometimes sobering,
but always entertaining story of how these unforgettable women became The Hurricane Sisters.

My thoughts: I only just started reading Dorothea Benton Frank, but I recently had the absolute pleasure of meeting her at BEA and had just finished reading this book. It was so cool to be able to say to her how much I had enjoyed reading her latest book.

I loved how each chapter was told from a different character’s point of view. This allows us to really know and understand each of the characters. It alternates between Liz, Maisie, Ashley and Clayton’s points of view. Each
voice is distinct and I loved being able to see the same
events from the different perspectives of some of the characters. The generational gap between the characters just adds another layer to the story.

The Pringles are a relatively close family with their fair share of dysfunction, but what family isn’t without at least some dysfunction. At first, they are overly critical of one another – there are the usual parent/child troubles
that are typical of most families but the siblings relationship, that between Ashley and Ivy, seems to be trouble free. The characters’ unresolved
issues are revealed through the various interactions and it is quite
interesting to watch them work through their individual problems. I have to say that there are quite a few comical scenes throughout the book – Maisie and her llamas, the incident with the Glass gadget – and then there are just as many heartwarming scenes, particularly at the end, but also interspersed throughout.  

Set in Carolina’s Low Country, Dottie’s writing is so descriptive, it’s easy to feel as if you are right there yourself. I felt as if I was there, watching the sunsets with Ashley during her parties and could feel the strong sea breezes sweep across my face. While this is still a light summer read, it does have a bit of a serious undertone to it as Dottie brings to light the widespread and rampant issue of domestic abuse happening in her home state of South Carolina, making it the perfect summer book club pick.

This is my second Dorothea Benton Frank book and she is now going on my must-read author list. I can’t wait to go back and read her other books. Although now I need to decide if I want to read or do audio of her older books…decisions, decisions. What do you think?

About the author: New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank was born and raised on Sullivans Island, South Carolina. She is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels, including Lowcountry Summer and Return to Sullivans Island. She resides in the New York area with her husband.

Authors Links: 

Website   |   Twitter   |   Facebook   

 

To see who else is participating in Dorothea Benton Frank’s The Hurricane Sisters tour, click here.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS – CLOSED (US only)  

Thanks to the publisher I have one copy of The Hurricane Sisters to give away to my readers. 

To enter…

• Leave a comment below & be sure to include your email address.
• Tweet, share on Facebook, or blog for 2 extra entries.
• You MUST include email address or entry will be invalid.
• I will contact winner at the conclusion of the giveaway & they will have 2 days to respond or I will pick a new winner.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and ends June 12th.

Good luck!