Helpful Score: 3
Loved the characters in this book. This whole series of books is wonderful...a must read!!
Helpful Score: 3
I love everything Dorothea Benton Frank has written but I think this one was my favorite! Loved all the characters and the story line and this was another one that I wished would never end! A must-read!
Helpful Score: 2
I just discovered Dorothea Benton Frank a couple of months ago and have now read all her books! She's delightful! All about the lowcountry of South Carolina. She's spunky, wacky, hilarious, AND profound. Plantation was excellent!
Helpful Score: 2
Wonderful book.
Helpful Score: 2
A wonderful southern saga of a mother and daughter and their extended family. Great humor and drama pulls at your heart strings.
Helpful Score: 2
I couldn't stop turning the pages of this mesmerizing story of a family in distress in the Low Country, which are the islands surrounding Charleston, SC. As I was reading this wonderful novel I couldn't help thinking the the writing style seemed similar to a cross between Pat Conroy and Fannie Flag, two popular southern authors. This novel will be a revisit for anyone who has been to the shores of South Carolina and for anyone who has not, I will bet that you will make plans to visit soon after reading this smart and sassy tale of the shores of the Low Country. Also, the language is right on for that area. I only say this because I read a comment where a reviewer asks the question, "Who talks like that"?
From page one you know that the matriarch of the family, Lavinia has died since the prologue starts out with her funeral. From the first chapter the story goes back a few months and brings you up to that time. During this time you will get to know and love the characters of the dysfunctional Wimbly family and their friends. "Plantation" is such an emotional roller coaster that I promise they will keep you smiling, laughing out loud and boo hooing like a baby.
Caroline Wimbly has fled to New York City to get away from her mother and the Low Country. She marries and has a son who has learning disabilities. When her disastrous marriage falls apart, she and her son flee NYC to return to her home where she feels safe. Even though her brother is in financial trouble, and his wife is a loose tongued, mean spirited piece of trash, she begins to feel as though she has really come home. In light of all of this and while she is in the mist of several other colorful characters, she finds comfort in the arms of her cantankerous but larger than life mother and her surrogate mother, Millie, the housekeeper. Caroline begins a journey of new found love of family and her very own Low Country of South Carolina. As, they say in the south, "It's a hoot, ya heah?"
This is my review that I posted on Goodreads.
From page one you know that the matriarch of the family, Lavinia has died since the prologue starts out with her funeral. From the first chapter the story goes back a few months and brings you up to that time. During this time you will get to know and love the characters of the dysfunctional Wimbly family and their friends. "Plantation" is such an emotional roller coaster that I promise they will keep you smiling, laughing out loud and boo hooing like a baby.
Caroline Wimbly has fled to New York City to get away from her mother and the Low Country. She marries and has a son who has learning disabilities. When her disastrous marriage falls apart, she and her son flee NYC to return to her home where she feels safe. Even though her brother is in financial trouble, and his wife is a loose tongued, mean spirited piece of trash, she begins to feel as though she has really come home. In light of all of this and while she is in the mist of several other colorful characters, she finds comfort in the arms of her cantankerous but larger than life mother and her surrogate mother, Millie, the housekeeper. Caroline begins a journey of new found love of family and her very own Low Country of South Carolina. As, they say in the south, "It's a hoot, ya heah?"
This is my review that I posted on Goodreads.
Helpful Score: 1
I liked it better than Sullivan's Island because I felt the story progressed a bit better. I am finding an unlikely amount of love interests in her stories. It seems that every man these women meet just about fall in love with them and no one ever really seems angry when the romance fizzles. And they are always so friendly with each other. No hurt feelings or jealousy. Seems a bit unrealistic to me, but it was a cute, feel good story none-the-less.
Helpful Score: 1
Good escapism but predictable Frank storyline and characters.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a really good book. From the time I picked it up I couldn't stop reading. If you are a "Chick Lit" fan this is a real winner. I love the Low Country settings of this series, but they are all stand-alones.
A daughter goes home to see about Mother and finds not too much changes in the South. A great book by Dorothea Benton Frank - she's one of the best southern fiction writers.
I could not put this book down. As usual Dorothea Benton Franks has succeeded in capturing the feeling of what it would be like to live in the Low Country.
If you love the South, this is the book for you. I don't normally read these types of books, but it is great! I'm on to 'Georgia bottoms' next.
Great beach reading.
Caroline Wimberly Levine always swore she'd never go home again . But now, at her brother's behaest, she has returned to South carolina to "see about Mother"-only to find that the years have not changed the Queen of Tall Pines Plantation. Miss Lavina is as maddeningly eccentric as ever-and absolutely will not suffer the questionable advice of her children. This does not surprise Caroline. Nor does the fact that Tall Pines is still brimming with scandals and secrets, betrayals and lies. But she soon discovers that something is different this time around. It lies somewhere in the distance between her and her mother-and in her understanding of what it means to go come home
A perfect summer read! A page turner - what happens next. Scandals, secrets, betrayals and lies.
If you love to read about the South - you'll love reading this book and enjoy being taken back to the lowcountry!
If you love to read about the South - you'll love reading this book and enjoy being taken back to the lowcountry!
Very good story.
I love all her books and the stories of the Low Country
Enoyable book! Almost 600 pages...
Dorothea Benton Frank is a gifted writer and I love this book, as well as her other books.
Dorothea Benton Frank once again takes us to the Lowcountry in South Carolina. Her stories of families and the trials and tribulations they through hold readers captive.
A great book ...Would read it again !
Great read! Author of Sullivan's Island!
Slow reading at first but once you get into it you can hardly put it down. A great read!
A definite genre--interesting for description of that part of the USA.
I absolutely adored this book. I particularly fond of novels of Southern family lifestyles, especially those with old Southern values and this one is a prime example.
Loved it, loved it, loved it.
Loved it, loved it, loved it.
Good read
I have read other titles by Frank and really enjoy them. I got into her books after having spent some time in Charleston.
I just finished reading this story-and I hated that it had to end. Dorothea Benton Frank tells a story-and puts you right n the middle of it.She knows her material so well, you feel like you are right there in the middle of the setting ,just watching everything that is happening. I am trying to read all her books,and I only have two more to go. This book is about a low country family, all with family problems of their own. Daughter comes home to a mother she never thought loved her. Mother who has had her own problems all these years, and a son married to the wrong crazy woman. And her secondary characters, all have lives of their own. Very enjoyable book!
A great story of a woman who is trying to find her way back home. If you love South Carolina you will love this author.
Charming Low Country tale. Subplots and romance abound
Caroline Wimbley Levine always swore she'd never go home again. But now, at her brother's behest, she has returned to South Carolina to "see about Mother" - only to find that the years have not changed the Queen of Tall Pines Plantation. Miss Lavinia is as maddeningly eccentric as ever-and absolutely will not suffer the questionable advice of her children. This does not surprise Caroline. Nor does the fact that Tall Pines is still brimming with scandals and secrets, betrayals and lies. But soon discovers that something is different this time around. It lies somewhere in the distance between her and her mother-and in her understanding of what it means to come home...
Absolutely great fun! Dorothea Frank's books explode with vitality and a wicked sense of humor. She looks at relationships with a wise and ultimately redemptive eye. The laughs will do you good.
A wonderful book from one of my favorite authors.
Excellent read.
Excellent book.
"Filled with entertaining characters and lots of humor." - The State (Columbia, SC)
Kathy N. (addicated-to-reading) reviewed Plantation (Lowcountry Tales, Bk 2) on + 150 more book reviews
Liked this and enjoyed reading it. Found out there are more Lowcountry books out there and will try and get some more.
I loved this Southern fiction book. Set in South Carolina.
From Publishers Weekly: "HA follow-up to Frank's debut novel, Sullivan's Island, this colorful contemporary romance effortlessly evokes the lush beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry while exploring the complexities of family relationships. When Caroline Wimbley Levine learns that her mother, Miss Lavinia, has supposedly gone mad, she leaves the big city bustle of Manhattan and returns to Tall Pines Plantation. Caroline originally left Tall Pines to escape her feisty, eccentric mother and her drunken brother, Trip, but when Miss Lavinia dies, Caroline is forced to come to terms with her family's troubled history as well her failing relationship with her husband. As Caroline reminisces about her past rebelliousness and her childhood, she realizes that her father's sudden and tragic death many years before served as a catalyst for the family's disintegration. Caroline and Trip also learn that their seemingly selfish and self-assured mother was not so uncaring after all. While most of the story is told from Caroline's point of view, journal entries written by Miss Lavinia open several of the chapters, providing the narrative with additional texture and warmth. Although the novel is short on plot, readers will enjoy immersing themselves in the lives of these deftly drawn, heartfelt characters. Agent, Amy Berkower. (July 3)Forecast: Sullivan's Island was a New York Times bestseller, and, if Frank's newest receives the critical praise it deserves, it will climb the charts as well. Booksellers will also boost sales if they recommend this book to fans of Pat Conroy and Anne Rivers Siddons." Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Pat Conroy: "Dorothea Frank and I share the exact same literary territory-- Sullivan's Island is hilarious and wise....
Pat Conroy: "Dorothea Frank and I share the exact same literary territory-- Sullivan's Island is hilarious and wise....
great beach book!
Frank evokes a lush plantation in the heart of modern day South Carolina - where family ties and hidden truths run as deep and dark as the mighty Edisto River - Back Cover
Great for a summer read/light reading. Enjoyed it very much!
Lindy
Lindy
Caroline Wimbley Levine always swore she'd never go home again. But now, at her brother's behest, she has returned to South Carolina to "see about mother" - only to find that the years have not changed the Queen of Tall Pines Plantation. Miss Levinia is as maddeningly eccentric as ever- and absolutely will not suffer the questionable advice of her children. This does not surprise Caroline. Nor does the fact that Tall Pines is still brimming with scandals and secrets, betrayals and lies. But she soon discovers that something is different this time around. It lies somewhere in the distance between her and her mother - and in her understanding of what it means to come home...
Family ties and hidden truths run deep
A steel magnolia marries The Perfect Man, moves "up North", has a baby...and then the south sucks her back in. She soon discovers that nothing is what it seems-and that's a good thing.
Olivia's parents were among Hollywoods's golden couples...until the night a monster came and took her mother away forever. A monster with the face of her father.Sheltered from the truth, and older Olivia only dimly recalls her night of terror--but her recurring nightmares make her realize she must piece together the real story.
Great read!
Frank is one of my favorite author's. I very much enjoyed this book,and all her other books as well!
excellent story for I felt as if I were there and it kinda reminds me of the yetta from the nanny and yaya sisterhood thrown together. Had a good laugh with it as well.
A wonderful picture of life in the lowcountry, with strong female figures. Enjoyable.
this colorful contemporary romance effortlessly evokes the lush beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry while exploring the complexities of family relationships. When Caroline Wimbley Levine learns that her mother, Miss Lavinia, has supposedly gone mad, she leaves the big city bustle of Manhattan and returns to Tall Pines Plantation. Caroline originally left Tall Pines to escape her feisty, eccentric mother and her drunken brother, Trip, but when Miss Lavinia dies, Caroline is forced to come to terms with her family's troubled history as well her failing relationship with her husband. As Caroline reminisces about her past rebelliousness and her childhood, she realizes that her father's sudden and tragic death many years before served as a catalyst for the family's disintegration. Caroline and Trip also learn that their seemingly selfish and self-assured mother was not so uncaring after all. While most of the story is told from Caroline's point of view, journal entries written by Miss Lavinia open several of the chapters, providing the narrative with additional texture and warmth. Although the novel is short on plot, readers will enjoy immersing themselves in the lives of these deftly drawn, heartfelt characters.
An excellent read!
one of my favorites!
The characters in this novel are complete snobs, shallow, and totally self-absorbed. The problem is, the author doesn't realize that. She seems to think they're charming.
Enjoyed the book but I've liked her other books better.
Enjoyed it - like the series.
By the author of best seller Sullivan's Island. A lush plantation in the new South.......
Great, summer reading book, touching, funny, and sad too!!
Loved this book! I think it is better than "Sullivan's Island"! Great characters; lots of humor; lots of soul..great read!
This book is in Perfect Condition!
I love Dorothea Benton Frank and this one ranks at the top of my favorites that she has written.
very popular read
