What do readers think of Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank? Write your own review.

When I saw this book listed on first impressions, I thought what a fun read. I was disappointed. The story and characters stuck me a rather shallow. even for a "beach read". At times I'd read along and enjoy it and then I wouldn't! It felt almost like two different people were authoring the story and each had different visions of the characters. Usually I enjoy escaping into light fiction, a big Mary Kay Andres fan! However, unless you absolutely love anything that even mentions Charleston, S.C. or Folly Beach, I would not go out of my way to read this book. "Porgy and Bess" fans might enjoy it.

A light romance, featuring Cate, a widow returning from New Jersey to her Low Country roots hoping to start her life over. Enjoyed the setting, atmospheric specifics, and the Porgy & Bess story, but was frustrated by the fairy tale ending. Found her initial set of dire circumstances more interesting and would have liked her new life to be less predictable.

Dorothea Benton Frank has written a light hearted romance in Folly Beach that is a love letter to the Carolina low country and a historical look at a 1920s-1930s artistic renaissance in that area. The story is centered around DuBose Heyward, the author of Porgy and his wife Dorothy who might have been more instrumental than history would indicate in bringing George Gershwin’s opera to life. Scenes from the play about their life together alternate with the modern story of the woman who comes to live in their former house when her life collapses around her and is swept up in the magic that is the Carolina low country.

I think I understand what Dorthea Benton Frank was attempting to do with her newest novel, "Folly Beach: a lowcountry tale"; she was attempting to connect with the in vogue "horror" movement by having Dorothy Heyward come out of her grave to recount her life in every other chapter. If not, then I completely lost the idea she was going for. The present-day story of Cate--the unfortunate wife of a Bernie Madoff-like husband--could stand alone and it got to the point that I skipped the historical chapters and read only Cate's story.
If Ms Frank had tried to connect past with present in the form of a diary Cate finds in her girlhood home, then I think it would have been a much smoother plot.