Sullivan's Island by Dorothea Benton Frank

It has been a long time since I reviewed a book, so I thought I'd share this one.

I have been trying to ignore the nasty politics, because I guess I have reached a point where I think life's too short to listen to the lies and slurs.  It just sends my blood presssure into the stratosphere, and it's high enough as it is when I'm calm, thank you very much.

So, I've been reading a lot more and watching Midsomer Murders on Netflix on the weekends without even turning on the television.  It has been rather nice, actually.

Ayhoo, In a stunning development, I have turned my attention, temporarily, to a book that was recommended by Linda at http://velvetsacks.blogspot.com/. 

She lets us know, now and then, what she is reading, and I have found that, although her reading habits are quite different from mine, I always find something I like from her list.  As you know, I am a Mystery reader, but I do like to wander around in other genres, occasionally, when my favorite authors get lazy and fail to turn out books as fast as I would like.  Even worse, this year, some of my favorites have stopped writing their series' altogether.  I will sorely miss Patricia Sprinkle's southern mysteries featuring MacLaren Yarborough (her husband calls her Little Bit), because she decided enough was enough, and has gone on to write stand-alone books on other subjects.  I will also miss my favorite British Mysteries by Veronica Stallwood, who also tired of her main character after many years.  I'm waiting for whatever she decides to write, now, but she's kind of slow about gittin' 'er done. 

And, of course, some of the authors have had the temerity to die, such as my very most favorite, Anne George.  I know she couldn't help it, but I sure do miss her hilarious books about her main characters, sisters Patricia Ann and Mary Alice.  They were a hoot.

But, I digress.  I meant to talk about "Sullivan's Island," by Dorothea Frank.  She is another southern writer, who talks about growing up in the Low Country of South Carolina.  I found that after a bit of a slow start, this book really grabbed me.  It tells about life in Charleston in the 1990s, with flashbacks to Susan's childhood in the 1960's on Sullivan's Island.

As I said, it started slow, but picked up speed after the first few pages, with Susan coming home from work at noon and walking in on her husband, Tom, in bed with his 20-something girl friend.   

Now, in case you're thinking, "Oh, no. Not ANOTHER rejected wife story," I'll ease your mind by telling you that it is more about Susan's upbringing than her marital problems.  In fact, her marital problems are only a sub-plot, and pretty funny, actually. Susan and her daughter, Beth, discover that they can get along just fine without dear old dad, after the first few months, and the plot thickens from there. 

As a matter of fact, I liked this book well enough to get the sequel, "Return to Sullivan's Island" and I'm going to start reading it today. 

Thanks, Linda, for the suggestion.

Stay tuned.