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Lowcountry Summer (Lowcountry Tales #7)

by Dorothea Benton Frank (Goodreads Author)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 1,998 ratings · 304 reviews

Dorothea Benton Frank is a native of the South whose novels vividly capture the wild beauty, laid-back atmosphere, earthy characters, and charming eccentricities of life in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Written with compelling honesty and emotional depth, her stories have touched readers from coast to coast, and propelled her to the top ranks of bestsellerdom nationwide.

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Hardcover, 352 pages

Published June 15th 2010 by William Morrow & Company (first published July 1st 2002)

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Oct 13, 2010 Tracy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Sucks, sucks, sucks... last one of her's I'll read.

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Jul 24, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a great story that really shows you the dynamics of a typical southern family who has class and the taste to boot. I did enjoy the story as a whole but in all honesty? Caroline comes off as a selfish bitch really. She's very much one of those dominating personalities that has to know EVERYTHING and has an opinion on EVERYTHING and if you are doing something she doesn't like or agree with- you will know it. She doesn't seem like the type of person who can genuinely be happy for a person i...more

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Apr 21, 2011 Pam rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Caroline Wimbley Levine is turning forty-six which hardly seems old. For the heiress to the Tall Pines Plantation throne, she has some pretty big shoes to fill, however. Following her late, great predecessor and mother, Miss Lavinia, Caroline is determined to rule her land and family with and calm and grace of those before her.

Ah, but well on her way, she finds obstacles. A strangely silent college-aged son, a limp noodle brother and a raging drunk sister-...more

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Apr 16, 2011 Megan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

Caroline is a southern lady, maintaining a mansion and plantation that has been in the family for over 100 years. She dabbles in a strawberry jam business, worries about her only child at college, and believes that there is nothing wrong with multiple lovers as long as she is discreet. Life gets exciting, though, when she decides to perform an intervention on her alcoholic sister-in-law and teach her four nieces some old-fashioned Southern manners.

Southern plantation romance with a well-develop...more

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Sep 22, 2010 Tama rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, pleasure

If I could have given this one a 3.8, I probably would have. The author tries to situate the main character Caroline (play on Carolina?) as a native low country woman of character trying to impart southern charm and manners on her four wayward nieces. However, in the process it becomes evident that Caroline has a few character flaws of her own - often doing the same thing that she would criticize her nieces for. I'm trying to figure out why the author would portray this person with polar opposit...more

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Sep 17, 2010 Jlaurenmc rated it 2 of 5 stars

After three long weeks spent with Dorothea Benton Franks' newest release Lowcountry Summer: A Plantation Novel, I finally finished it last night. I've been a Frank fan since her first novel Sullivan's Island was published. She is a true southern author, with almost all of her books set along South Carolina's coastline. I have read all of her books, and enjoyed each one -- until this one. I'm not sure exactly why I didn't particularly like Lowcountry Summer. While I loved main character Caroline...more After three long weeks spent with Dorothea Benton Franks' newest release Lowcountry Summer: A Plantation Novel, I finally finished it last night. I've been a Frank fan since her first novel Sullivan's Island was published. She is a true southern author, with almost all of her books set along South Carolina's coastline. I have read all of her books, and enjoyed each one -- until this one. I'm not sure exactly why I didn't particularly like Lowcountry Summer. While I loved main character Caroline Wimbley in Franks' second novel Plantation, she somehow fell flat in this sequel. Broken following her divorce and her mother's death, Caroline was a sympathetic character in Plantation. In Lowcountry Summer she comes across as a snotty, unfeeling and archaic stereotype of a southern lady. Lowcountry Summer takes place ten years after the events in Plantation. That time frame has removed Caroline from the devastation she felt at losing her mother and failing in her marriage. Rather than growing older and wiser, she seems almost more immature in this novel.

Another problem I had with the novel was its lack of a cohesive plot. Ostensibly, the premise is Caroline's brother Trip's ongoing family issues. His estranged wife Frances Mae is still causing trouble for the Wimbley family, made worse by her ongoing alcoholism. After she is shipped off to an Intervention-style recovery center in California, Trip and his live-in girlfriend Rusty attempt to care for Trip's four daughters. They need help with the rebellious teenagers and spoiled youngest daughter, of course, from Aunt Caroline -- with varying results. I felt as though the action of the novel was far removed from the main character; although Caroline involves herself heavily in Trip's family life, it seemed staged and unrealistic. The plot just didn't flow for me.

Another issue I had with the novel was its annoying plot twist with a death (no spoiler! just a warning...) that seemed entirely unnecessary to me. It was as though Frank simply couldn't think of a way to make the last half of the novel interesting, so she threw in a death to mix things up. Frank does many things beautifully -- descriptive setting, southern dialogue, and (usually) interesting character portraits. But none of those could save her eleventh novel. I love the idea of returning to characters written about years ago; Franks' Return to Sullivan's Island was an excellent example of how sequels can work perfectly. I drooled over it! (Literally -- the recipes and food described sounded unbelievably good.) I'm still a die-hard Frank fan, and I'll continue reading her novels as soon as they come out. I just wouldn't recommend this as a good example of what she's capable of writing.(less)

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Jun 21, 2010 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

I received this book last week and have already finished it. One of the reasons for a quick read, it that I broke my thumb and have most of my right hand in a cast. As a medical coder, I cannot code, but I can turn the pages. This book was a definite page turner! I have been a fan Dorothea Benton Frank for years. I love how she so richly develops each character featured, so we can truly feel as if we know them and can relate to their lives.

I am a Southern girl in MS, so her characters really str...more

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May 22, 2010 bookczuk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookcrossing, met-the-author, places-i-have-been, read-for-review, set-in-the-south, southern-author, somewhat-disappointing, early-review-librarything

Got this Early Reviewers copy of Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank from the April 2010 batch over at LibraryThing. What amazes me of late is that Frank continues to write about the place where I live, yet we seem to move in entirely different universes. Maybe one of us in in an alternate reality lowcountry. (No, I know that's not true. She and I went to the same high school and have friends in common.)

Anyhow, this was a light, diversionary read, and because it was an uncorrected proof,...more Got this Early Reviewers copy of Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank from the April 2010 batch over at LibraryThing. What amazes me of late is that Frank continues to write about the place where I live, yet we seem to move in entirely different universes. Maybe one of us in in an alternate reality lowcountry. (No, I know that's not true. She and I went to the same high school and have friends in common.)

Anyhow, this was a light, diversionary read, and because it was an uncorrected proof, I did my best to ignore typos and typesetting problems. But there were a few things that made me pull out my editing pencil and scrawl comments in the margin. Hopefully they'll be caught in the final proof, but if not, I will prepare to turn in all my crochet hooks for crochet needles, and tell all my friend who are the fourth to bear a particular name that they can now be called Trip. (Trip and Trey are common nicknames for so-and-so the third, but in this case, Frank's third is clearly a fourth, which confused me no end,)

Anyhow, like so many other southern authors, family dysfunction seems to rule the roost, whether it's a plantation or a shack. Frank paints her characters well and captured some of my beloved lowcountry. But I've got to admit, I've never had a summer like the one depicted here. Maybe because I don't live on a plantation. But the book fits a certain genre and will be a great beach read for thousands of readers.

For readers who do not live in Charleston, please note:

We do not all live on plantations. Actually, I don't know anyone who lives on one (or one that doesn't have some other function than just being an elegant home), though several friends do have them in their family. But taxes are so high that the properties are used for other things, not Living On a Plantation.

Also, not all of us have strong elderly women, of African Heritage , who have unfailingly cared for our families, when our own poor excuse for genetic parents were unable to do so. In fact, my own parents, particularly my mother, did a pretty damn good job on their own.

And, for what it's worth, I only know one Lavinia, and she would kill to be called something else.

(less)

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Aug 29, 2010 Hattie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank is all about family. This particular family is facing every type of problem you can imagine. When it rains, it pours is what I thought about while reading this novel.Caroline and Millie Smoaks try to keep everything and everyone under control. I loved Millie Smoaks she is full of much needed wisdom. Millie is always in control no matter how many pecan waffles she is cooking. Caroline shows her gratitude for Millie's presence by running to her with every...more

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Apr 24, 2011 Molly rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Molly by: TLC

Shelves: book-review

Southern fiction at it's best! Wait. Hold on a second. I didn't think that at FIRST. It was a little slow for me in the beginning with Caroline dragging on about her life. But, after a bit, I started relaxing INTO the book. I became one with the book (zen, huh?), I became a part of the southern town and it's warm characters. Dorothea Benton Frank knows how to write women's fiction and how to make it GOOD.

Caroline's life is full of craziness. Drama, craziness, what ever you want to call. It's fu...more

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May 22, 2013 Sharon Galligar rated it 5 of 5 stars

Dorothea Benton Frank has a delightful way of pulling her readers into her stories and never letting them go until the very satisfying end of her books. She spins tales about the coastal Lowcountry area of South Carolina in such a manner as the reader will feel the cool breezes and smell the sweet ocean air with every word. Dorothea also mixes in a great deal of gentle Southern humor into her tales, making the reading a unique experience for both those familiar with the landscape and for first-t...more

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Mar 28, 2011 Kathy Hiester rated it 4 of 5 stars

Caroline has returned to live at the family plantation home after the relatively messy break up of her marriage. The home had once been the residence of her mother, Lavinia Boswell Wimbley and left to Caroline. Lavina continues to make her presence known if she is not thrilled with something her daughter has done. This novel presents Caroline's extended family and the different degrees of their life. Separation, bereavement, disease, love and the proper raising of South Carolina children into pr...more

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Nov 10, 2010 Lynne Tull rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction

I have used the term "read" loosely. I "read" only 50 pages. First of all, I chose to read it as a download test for my new Nook. I thought I would try a book that was not my usual fare. I found that I did not like the change. I prefer "soft" mysteries and romance, both historical and certain authors writing contemporary stories. I also like some non-fiction: self-help, inspirational, how-to's, arts and crafts. I used to like biographies, but now it seems that all new ones are written by or abou...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-books

After the first few chapters, I was ready to give up on this book. Not something I would normally read, yet ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised. The narrator, Caroline, is a 46 year old Southern Belle living on the family plantation, running a jam business. She is witty and compassionate, though I bit on the snobby side, enjoying the dating game since her divorce ten years prior. Her dutiful son, Eric, is away at college. In this particular novel, Caroline decides to help her brother Tripp st...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the setting of this book. It made me remember all the various types of people I grew up around being raised in the south. I knew almost exactly where the cities were. The Lowcountry of South Carolina is gorgeous and Ms. Frank brings it to life.

If you're not Southern, you might not fully appreciate all the characters, magic and lifestyles. It reminded me of the age gap between my generation and my mom's generation where people were once upon a time more proper. The struggles of t...more

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Apr 28, 2011 Candi rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 30, 2010 Kimberly B. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, 2010, fiction, own

I am immensely grateful that I won this book off First-Reads. I enjoyed Lowcountry Summer as much if not more than Frank's first book in the duo, Plantation. This is a fantastic book! Frank writes her stories with such an honest outlook on life you can't help but become enchanted with her characters' lives on the Edisto River. I can't even count how many times I laughed out loud while reading this! There are also several very heartfelt moments that brought tears to my eyes. I found myself missin...more

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Jun 23, 2010 Carrie Goodall rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I received this book from the Goodreads first reads giveaway.

Caroline Wimbley Levine is one meddlesome lady! She is also fiesty, snobby, and totally hilarious. I love her! Lowcountry Summer is the story of Caroline's summer at her plantation home in South Carolina where she lives near her brother Trip. When Trip's sort-of ex-wife gets in a wreck with their youngest daughter, Caroline convinces Trip to send Frances Mae to rehab (for the fifth time). And then the meddling begins as Caroline attemp...more

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May 10, 2011 Elisha (lishie) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love getting back to the sensibilities of the south & DBF sure has the knack to do this to me... Through Caroline's pining for the old-time manners, description of the food & the Lowcountry, I am transported to where I grew up (very similar to Florida). I could feel the humidity, see the gator-filled water, the flowers... & smell & almost taste the food. Caroline's funny- she's a walking hypocrite. As long as her thoughts are quiet & her motions (sleeping with a couple of m...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance

This is Frank's seventh installment in the lowcountry tales series and one of the best. I loved it. She writes with so much wit and humor and her characters are so full of life. This novel returns to Tall Pines Plantation the scene of one of her earlier books in this series. Caroline Wimbley Levine is dealing with many issues, including a brother with an alcoholic wife and his four daughters that are out of control. Caroline's mother, Miss Lavinia, was the stalwart matriarch of the Wimbley clan...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Kerry Hennigan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Dear Dot Frank... her books seldom disappoint. Lowcountry Summer certainly doesn't.

Set on the historic plantation of Tall Trees, South Carolina, it is the story of one incredibly eventful and frenetic summer as experienced by Caroline Wimbley Levine, aged 46 and owner of the family property.

Her brother Trip is estranged from his wife Frances Mae, an unrepentant alcoholic who is mother of their four girls, all difficult and belligerent in Caroline's view.

What happens when the family, including Ca...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Hope rated it 2 of 5 stars

Pleasant enough for mindless reading but not great literature by any stretch of the imagination. I find myself wishing the characters would behave like real people. The story moves along simply with very little tension, as conflicts are presented and resolved in quick succession and the characters act like dream people, always doing the easiest thing possible to move the story along. I tend to rewrite the story in my head as I go along, adding depth that I wish were there.

Bottom line: a fast re...more

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Aug 27, 2010 Juliana rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. It was a fast read because I was really interested in what was going to happen next. I laughted out loud at the silly things said by the main character. What I find ironic is that I tried to read the first book, Plantation, and hated it...couldn't finish it. One other reviewer said she loved Plantation and hated Lowcountry Summer for almost the same reasons. I thought Plantation was was tedious and boring and the main character's mother was an annoying control freak tha...more

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Jul 27, 2010 Amy Bradley rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the beginning of this summer read but will admit I became a little disappointed as the book progressed. The descriptions of the water, beach, and sky are always wonderful, but the description of Southern cooking, silver, and linen got tiring by the end of the book. The antics of some of the characters was also tiring. I did like how the relationship between the brother and sister was portrayed and how hard the sister worked to keep her brother's family together. I would recommend this...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Alice rated it 3 of 5 stars

So far I like this book very much. Lots of strong characters with good conflicts. First-person narrator who has many lovers, as her mother did before her, yet she views her promiscuous nieces as tramps because they aren't discreet. She definitely has her own lens on the world. Lots of great southern humor and strong sense of place. Great summer book.

After finishing:
I thought it was a good book, but not great. I didn't feel like the protagonist really changed in the story. The characters were int...more

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Aug 18, 2010 Gail rated it 3 of 5 stars

After reading Plantation and loving it, I was very disappointed in this follow-up novel. My complaints: 1) the dialog in some chapters was tedious and boring; 2) the main character morphed into an annoying control freak that liked to sleep around, which is okay, but totally out of character from the previous book; 3) the author never explained what happened to Jack Taylor from the previous book; 4) the author went a little overboard with the voo-doo.

It did evoke some emotion from me in certain p...more

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Jun 20, 2010 Vivian rated it 2 of 5 stars

I love (loved?) Dorothea Benton Franks's books but I could not finish this one. I've had the same problem with her lasst two books. It moved at an incredibly slow pace and I couldn't generate any interest for any of the characters. By the time I got to page 100, I started reading only the first sentence of each paragraph. I soon got tired of that and finally gave up. I didn't even care enough to peek at the end to see what happened. I think that I've either outgrown DBF or she's lost her stride....more

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May 17, 2012 Lisa Corathers rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a quick, pleasant read, involving eccentric southern families. (I think most of us can empathize with eccentric families, no matter the geographical setting.) The lead character, Caroline, irked me a bit what with her southern highbrow ways--gasp, what would people think?--but she could be very funny and wicked good at times. The story contained one tragic event, but most things worked out for the best. One word of advice...don't read this book while you're hungry! OMG, do I want southe...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Lin rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I should have known it would be bad when I saw the praise on the cover from Kathryn Stocket. Lordy, lordy, another writer who tells and tells and tells and never shows! I kept flipping pages to get further into the story but it just kept getting worse. Maybe as a Yankee transplanted to the South I have a bias, but Caroline is such an unlikeable character! Who cares about her false values based on family history and place in society? Nearly as nasty as the trashy sister-in-law. Awful. How can thi...more

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Jan 12, 2011 Suzanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is the first book that I have read by DBF, and I decided not to read any of the other reviews prior to reading, but now that I have finished it, I understand what the other reviewers are saying, and now must go back and read some of her earlier titles. One of the other reviewers commented that while Lowcountry Summer is a sequel to "Plantation" it really stands alone, and I have to agree. I don't feel like going back to read "Plantation" would give me any further insights into the character...more This is the first book that I have read by DBF, and I decided not to read any of the other reviews prior to reading, but now that I have finished it, I understand what the other reviewers are saying, and now must go back and read some of her earlier titles. One of the other reviewers commented that while Lowcountry Summer is a sequel to "Plantation" it really stands alone, and I have to agree. I don't feel like going back to read "Plantation" would give me any further insights into the characters of Caroline Wimbley Levine, her brother Trip, or his four spoiled daughters and their wacky, alcoholic (gold-digging) mother Frances Mae.

My observations are that DBF was rather hurried in writing this book to get to print. The relationships between Caroline and her beaus - Bobby Mack and Matthew (the Sheriff) seem shallow and too easily solved - Bobby Mack has a heart attack in Caroline's bed, which summarily ends that, and Matthew and Caroline seem to pick up all too quickly after that, eventually heading down the aisle. The characters are all too predictable, right down to the four spoiled nieces, and with the exception of the oldest Amelia, I had no interest in learning about the other three, based on the way DBF portrayed them. The only character who seems to have any depth at all - Rusty get's killed off, and after losing the so-called "love of his life" trip rushed back to Frances Mae, after shipping her off to rehab and the start of the book. It all seems to nicely wrapped up with a bow on top to be believable...Also, Caroline's son Eric, who goes away to school in Columbia, hooks up with an older woman, with a baby no less (much to her chagrin) and the relationship ends much to easily when the baby's father returns. Let's not overlook the random, disturbing appearance of Caroline's exh-husband Richard, just at the time the family is mourning the loss of Rusty. He really is a jerk, but after professing his love for Caroline and being rejected, he practically heads off into the sunset, never to be heard of again....some family!

There are a lot of elements of this story that have the makings for a great novel, I just feel that DBF didn't take the time to fully develop these better parts of the book.(less)

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About Dorothea Benton Frank

Dorothea Benton Frank is the New York Times best selling author of ten novels.

Dottie has appeared on NBC's Today Show, Parker Ladd's Book Talk and many local network affiliated television stations. She is a frequent speaker on creative writing and the creative process for students of all ages and in private venues as the National Arts Club, the Junior League of New York, Friends of the Library org...more

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Lowcountry Summer (Lowcountry Tales #7)

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