Please join us for an Instagram tour and review tour for Same Beach, Next Year
We’re at the part of spring I love – it’s warm enough to want to be outside a lot, but the bugs aren’t out yet. Those who know me know how much I dislike bugs, particularly mosquitos, as they love to eat my ams up – and my arms scar from their bites. So, it’s the perfect time to read a summer read outside – before my outdoor deck becomes the hot spot for insect dining. When I was offered the opportunity to review Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank, I was happy to do so.
The novel is a fun read, but I was taken by one of the questions in the reading group guide and wanted to talk about that for a moment. The question, as it appears in the guide says:
Adam tells his young sons, “Families are your given tribe, and you have a duty to your given tribe to take care of them when they need help, to be respectful, and so on. But they are not your chosen tribe. Those are your dear friends who you love and treasure because they make your life rich with all the things that matter.” Who makes up your “tribe”? What can your “chosen tribe” offer that family can’t?
I find this question intriguing for a few reasons – one being that it’s an explanation given by a man who is having an emotional affair, and you can see some of his justificatory work there. I find it interesting for another reason – I’ve always said that close friends are chosen family members.
Now, that’s a different way of looking at things than believing in the “tribes” explanation. I’m not quite sure, but my very closest of friends are my sisters.
I think that the “tribe” notion Adam is talking about in the book works – if – you’re referring to your given tribe as the family you are born into – but we choose our spouses and who we make our home with – in a large number of marriages in the United States, anyway. So, I’m not sure. I definitely feel that my husband and I have a “tribe” in our running community, and there have been various stages of life that have lent themselves to various “tribes.” So, there’s that.
Dorothea Benton Frank does a good job of getting inside each character’s head, as she does in her novels. She paints a beautiful picture of the setting with her words, and she explores some tough questions in her work. Same Beach, Next Year is a novel worth checking out.
About Same Beach, Next Year
New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank returns to her magical Lowcountry of South Carolina in this bewitching story of marriage, love, family, and friendship that is infused with her warm and engaging earthy humor and generous heart.
One enchanted summer, two couples begin a friendship that will last more than twenty years and transform their lives.
A chance meeting on the Isle of Palms, one of Charleston’s most stunning barrier islands, brings former sweethearts, Adam Stanley and Eve Landers together again. Their respective spouses, Eliza and Carl, fight sparks of jealousy flaring from their imagined rekindling of old flames. As Adam and Eve get caught up on their lives, their partners strike up a deep friendship—and flirt with an unexpected attraction—of their own.
Year after year, Adam, Eliza, Eve, and Carl eagerly await their reunion at Wild Dunes, a condominium complex at the island’s tip end, where they grow closer with each passing day, building a friendship that will withstand financial catastrophe, family tragedy, and devastating heartbreak. The devotion and love they share will help them weather the vagaries of time and enrich their lives as circumstances change, their children grow up and leave home, and their twilight years approach.
Bursting with the intoxicating richness of Dorothea Benton Frank’s beloved Lowcountry—the sultry sunshine, cool ocean breezes, icy cocktails, and starry velvet skies—Same Beach, Next Year is a dazzling celebration of the infrangible power of friendship, the enduring promise of summer, and the indelible bonds of love.
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 Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Thanks for being a part of the tour!