BULL'S ISLAND (Dorothea Benton Frank)

I have to admit that I may be reading too many books set in South Carolina's Low Country, but I can't seem to stay away from them!  The story on paper sounds a bit trite:  Upper class boy (J.D. Langley) and middle class girl (Betts McGee) fall in love and plan to marry, but his mother opposes the match because she doesn't feel that the girl is good enough.  When Betts's mother dies, she flees to Manhattan and secretly gives birth to J.D.'s son, forging a successful career and a new life.  Twenty years later she is back in South Carolina to work on an important building project on Bull's Island, a project being headed by none other than J,D. Langley, unhappily married to a woman chosen by his mother and childless.

Dorothea Benton Frank has the ability to take a story that, in another writer's hands, would be a pleasant soap opera of a romance, and turn it into a story that touches your core emotions.  I think the key is that she creates characters that seem very real in their feelings and reactions.  Every one of the has redeeming human qualities, flaws, and uncertainties.  I'm glad that I haven't read all of Frank's books yet.  More to look forward to!

BONES & SILENCE (Reginald Hill)

Dalziel (pronounced De-ELL) and Pascoe are not the types of detectives that inhabit the mysteries I usually read.  Dalziel is rather obnoxious, earthy, a bit immoral, and fat.  Pascoe is married with a child, educated, logical, and back at work after a debilitating injury.

Dalziel and Pascoe are nothing like Holmes and Watson because Pascoe, although of an inferior rank, is not a"sidekick" or supporting player, but Dalziel's equal partner in detection.  I had a hard time getting into this story, though.  Author Hill, who won a Golden Dagger Award for this novel, has a complicated writing style that leaves the reader wondering at times how everything could possibly fit together, plus the book is full of literary allusions.  One thing that helped me was persistence.  I found that the longer I read, the more I enjoyed the book.  Another thing that helped was checking out Youtube and watching a bit of the British TV series based on these characters.  Somehow seeing what they looked like and how they interacted made the reading go a little more smoothly.

If you're looking for a challenging reading experience you might want to try Bones & Silence.  Hill cleverly unrolls the plot in a way that leaves you feeling as if the killer is just one step ahead of you (and Dalziel and Pascoe) throughout.  I was glad when I finished, but also glad that I had made it through.  It grows on you as you read, so don't get discouraged at the outset.

A SECRET GARDEN (Katie Fforde)

I would describe this as a homage to Jane Austen with a modern twist.  Philly, a plant grower and gardener, escaped from her family in Ireland to live in England with her beloved grandfather, a baker.  Together they look out for each other, run a stall at the market every Sunday, and generally try to make ends meet.  Lorna, a former art student and single mother, is a landscape gardener for a Cotswold estate and secretly in love with her employer, so she is sad when he meets a younger woman who quickly established herself as a permanent fixture in his life.

Lorna enlists Philly's help with the estate landscaping when an outdoor sculpture exhibit is planned for the estate grounds.  The result is much like the plot of your favorite Jane Austen novel, with unexpected romance blooming in every corner and everyone living happily ever after.  This is a great, relaxing way to spend a weekend.

THE SUMMER GIRLS (Mary Alice Monroe)

I'm not sure what it is about the Low Country that makes for such a plethora of family saga / romance novels, but they are all good!  The "Summer Girls" are half-sisters invited to spend the summer at their grandmother's home on Sullivan Island, South Carolina.  Marietta Muir will be selling Sea Breeze, her ancestral home, soon in order to move to a senior community and she wants one last summer there with her granddaughters, all the children of her late son Parker.  Dora, the oldest and daughter of Parker's first wife, is watching her life and marriage collapse while she tries to care for her autistic son, Nathan.  Carson, daughter of the beautiful nanny, the second wife who died when Carson was just 4 years old, was raised for most of her childhood at Sea Breeze under Marietta's care.  Harper, the product of Parker's last marriage to a woman who mistakenly thought he was a promising author, is the youngest and lives primarily to do her mother's bidding.

It was Carson who took care of his father and watched him slowly drink himself to death at age 47.  After several years of moderate success as a photographer in California, her job has ended and her drinking has made it difficult for her to find a new one, so the summons from her grandmother comes at a perfect time in her life.

Through the course of the summer, the girls discover family secrets and come to terms with their own relationships.  One thing that makes this novel stand out is the inclusion of Delphine, a dolphin that figures prominently in the story.  I always enjoy a novel that leaves me feeling like I've gained some interesting knowledge about the world, and this one did.  It was a perfect summer read.

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE (Virginia Woolf)

This is both a difficult and fascinating novel to read.  It has been described as one of the best novels of the 20th century.  I'm not sure if I would describe it as such (being neither a writer or critic myself), but it definitely leaves an impression.

The Ramsay family plan to sail the next day to a nearby lighthouse from their summer home on the coast of Scotland, somewhere around 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay have 8 children and several guests staying at the house with them, each of them engaged in their own interests and pursuits.  The novel is written from multiple points of view, meaning that the reader is privy to the inner thoughts, opinions, and observations of each and every character.  To be frank, it's confusing until you get into the rhythm of the story.  Most of the "action,"  more accurately described as "thoughts," takes place in one day, where young James hopes to be able to sail to the lighthouse, his beautiful mother tends to her children and guests, and volatile Mr. Ramsay predicts rain, making the trip unlikely, and suffers mood swings.

I know that I am vastly simplifying this novel.  It is the kind of thing where you really need to go back and read it again, and perhaps again before you can absorb the complexity of the psychological and emotional relationships flowing throughout.  I'm not sure if I want to do that, but if you are looking for an interesting literary challenge, here it is!

By the way, we read this book for our Vintage Book Club and only 1 person showed up for the discussion!