Publisher: Avon
Date published: April 24, 2012 (reprint edition)
ISBN:
978-0-06-196128-1
Fiction
Paperback
Reviewed by Lynne
Obtained via publisher
Cathryn Mahon Cooper - or Cate, to
her friends and family - is shocked and devastated at the sudden loss of her
husband, Addison. Yet it isn’t until his
funeral she learns of the incredible web of deceit he has spun throughout their
marriage. Left with nothing, once the
creditors take their due, Cate, at the advice of her family, returns to her
roots, to the woman who raised her. Aunt
Daisy. To her home at FOLLY BEACH,
South Carolina.
As Cate starts a new life amid the
glistening beaches and reconnects with childhood memories, it is then she
begins sorting through her own fears and worries by taking comfort in the
history of Folly Beach and the enticing Gullah traditions of the area.
As fate would have it, Cate meets a man
too good to be true, John Risley, who involves her with the history of an
artist, a writer, and a sometime colleague of George Gershwin, the genius
behind the famous play, “Porgy and Bess”.
Dorothy Heyward’s beloved husband, DuBose. As Cate researches the couple’s poignant
history, she soon finds herself intrigued and wants to learn more.
As time goes on, her own relationship
with Risley deepens, and he soon convinces her to write a play of her own. Though the Heywards are long gone, ripples of
their passion and spirit linger at FOLLY BEACH, which leads Cate into
becoming her own person, the woman she has always desired to be.
FOLLY BEACH by Dorothea Benton Frank is a delightful
book, with an interesting story to tell.
This edition is a reprint of the original FOLLY BEACH: A LOW COUNTRY TALE, only with a different
cover.
At first, I found FOLLY BEACH a
bit strange, the way it started out. But
I soon learned that every other chapter was a flashback to a different
time. The time of the Heywards’ lives at
FOLLY BEACH. Once I figured that
out, I understood what was happening.
I greatly enjoyed FOLLY BEACH. It brought me to a time, a subject, I knew
little about. The time of when the
famous “Porgy and Bess” was written. The
way Frank interweaved the lives of the Heywards with the life of Cate Cooper
was done quite skillfully. The fact that
Frank is an extremely talented writer is demonstrated clearly in the way FOLLY
BEACH is presented.
I empathized greatly with the main
character, Cate Cooper, when she learns what her deceased husband did to
her. It was easy to relate to her
circumstances and the feeling of hopelessness she must have felt at the
devastating discovery, that he had left her penniless because of his greed and
mismanagement of their money, and everyone else’s. To have to lose everything, then move back
home had to be very difficult for her.
It was an extremely low point in her life. But I loved how quickly things changed for
the better.
The turning point for Cate, when she
meets John Risley, is a wonderful part of FOLLY BEACH. John sounds like everything a woman would
want in a man. The addition of his nutsy
wife was sheer genius, because it added a lot of conflict, perhaps even tension
into this story. John could never truly
connect with Cate because of his marriage.
Although it seemed inevitable that things would work out in the end, it
still was a bit of a wrench between Cate and John in the beginning. Especially since John seemed so right for
Cate. I loved how they connected, of
what they shared through humor, encouragement, and even history.
The variety of minor characters, namely
Cate’s children, also added some conflict and a bit of tension in FOLLY
BEACH. Along with their many
problems, then we have Aunt Daisy and her health problems. She is a very likeable person, spunky, one
that many readers can probably relate to, since they may have Aunt Daisies of
their own they care about.
I did find it a bit strange about the
addition of the autographed piano that was identical to the one in the
museum. I actually thought Cate might
try to sell hers or donate it or check to verify that the one in the museum was
authentic. Regardless, it was a unique
idea for FOLLY BEACH. This scene
does seem a bit contrived, yet it takes nothing away from the story.
Frank does a wonderful job of tying up
everything at the end of FOLLY BEACH.
It is a happy, pleasant ever after for many of the characters.
Filled with interesting characters and
tidbits, humor, great dialogue, lots of family turmoil, a bit of mystery, and
feel-good plotting, FOLLY BEACH is a sure charmer for anyone interested
in whiling away an afternoon or just lounging on the beach with a good book.
This is an objective review and not an
endorsement of this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment