By Invitation Only by Dorothea Benton Frank; 3.5 stars

[Amy]

First, who doesn't just love Dorothea Benton Frank. She is funny and descriptive, and her characters just get in a tangle. No one pulls off Southern charm better than she and her characters.

This one was listed in the Friendship tag, but I saw anything but. It's really about two warring in law families, one in Lowcountry, the other a southern metropolis I have already forgotten. Charleston perhaps? It has been lingering on my TBR for awhile, so I thought to grab it for the Friendship tag. Her book Same Beach Last Year, which I also read this month certainly was. But as I said, this one didn't have friendship at its core in any way. But I also noted, I have just one of her books left to complete the cannon of DBF's works. And I partially wonder if indeed I have already read it.

So. I learned in the last few years that this author had passed away, and I was incredibly sad. I knew this was one of her last, if not her last works. But what I didn't know, is how young she was. She had just welcomed a first grandchild into the world, and was so so excited. I believe she had just has a couple of children recently married. She had so much to live for. Google at 4AM tells me that she died of a sudden leukemia at age 67 in 2019. So reading this made me a little sad. I couldn't really stop thinking about it. But inside the pages and chapters there is joy, and sadness too, but humor, and quirky characters, and color and so much life, and that is going to be how I remember her. Just like that. Rest in peace Dorothea (my mothers name as well). You brought a lot of light and love and wit and humor into this world. You left us lighter, although heavier for your loss. Thank you for your gifts.