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!
No comments:
Post a Comment