Books & Book Reviews

TLC Tours Book Review: All Summer Long by Dorothea Benton Frank

As long-time blog readers know, two years ago come July, we moved from Northern California to Southeastern Kansas. What a transition that has been! While I do get homesick, I also really enjoy how family-friendly Wichita has been and how much further a dollar goes here than in California. Life is also not quite so fast-paced, kids are kids longer, and since we came from a small college town to a city, there’s no shortage of things to do on the weekends. In Dorothea Benton Frank’s All Summer Long, main character Olivia Ritchie also makes a big moving transition.

Olivia’s move, however is even more of a contrast than California to Kansas. She follows her husband from Manhattan to Charleston, South Carolina. Naturally, it takes some time for Olivia to adjust to life in the south. One of the great things about Dorothea Benton Frank’s storytelling ability is that she puts you right into the scene with the characters through the way she paints pictures with her words. The author was born in Sullivans Island, South Carolina and now resides in New York – meaning that she has special authority for the places she writes about in this novel. As we progress with Olivia and her husband, Nick, through the novel, we learn more about their marriage, their wealthy friends, and how a perspective can change once you leave your comfort zone. 

About All Summer Long

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (March 7, 2017)

Filled with her trademark wit, poignant themes, and rich characters, the perennial New York Times bestselling author returns with a sensational novel that follows the travels of one couple though a tumultuous summer.

Dorothea Benton Frank’s magical stories take us deep into the heart of her beloved Carolina Lowcountry. In her novels, this lush landscape comes alive in all its vibrancy and color. She ignites all of our senses with her vivid descriptions of landscape and atmosphere. In her novels you hear the ocean washing the shore on different islands so profoundly that you can nearly hear the sea gulls squawking, too.

This is a story of people whose lives are changing—a southern gentleman returning home to lead a more peaceful life and his talented New York wife who is not quite sure she is ready to make the transition. They are moving north to south, fast pace versus slow pace, downsizing. And while they are doing this, they are getting glimpses into other people’s lives over the course of a summer, holidays that will amuse, shock and transform them.

This irresistible story is home to captivating characters as funny, complicated, and real as our best friends—husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, friends and family who wrestle with the complexities, pain, and joys familiar to us all.

Finally, we’ll come to recognize the face of love, the kind that deepens and endures but only because one woman makes a tremendous leap of faith. That leap changes them all.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Dorothea Benton Frank

New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank was born and raised on Sullivans Island, South Carolina. She resides in the New York area with her husband.

Find her on the web at www.dotfrank.com, or like her on FacebookTwitter, or Instagram.

Ronda Bowen

Ronda Bowen is a writer, editor, and independent scholar. She has a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Northern Illinois University and a B.A. in Philosophy, Pre-Graduate Option, Honors in the Major from California State University, Chico. When she is not working on client projects from her editorial consulting business, she is writing a novel. In her free time, she enjoys gourmet cooking, wine, martinis, copious amounts of coffee, reading, watching movies, sewing, crocheting, crafts, hanging out with her husband, and spending time with their teenage son and infant daughter.

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1 Comment

  1. I haven’t spent much time in the South but books like this make me want to spend lots of time there.

    Thanks for being a part of the tour!

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