Folly Beach

June 27, 2011
Frank's latest novel displays a rare talent that fans will welcome. Cate's philandering husband has died, leaving her nothing, and the entire contents of her sizable home have been repossessed. She returns to her relatives in Charleston hoping to get a grip on what has happened and on what comes next. Cate's new life with her firecracker of an aunt in the South is told primarily through hilarious and engaging dialogue with family and friends, with a smattering of seriousness along the way. The recently widowed protagonist's journey to rediscovering joy and love will thrill readers, especially with the addition of a suavely integrated story-within-a-story involving a one-woman play about the lovers who wrote Porgy and Bess. There's a certain authenticity to the lives Frank tells that will resonate with many women. Frank's telling of this tale will help readers celebrate love and sexuality after 60.

August 29, 2011
In Frank’s latest Lowcountry novel, Cate Cooper is left homeless after the death of her financially reckless husband and finds herself returning to the place of her childhood: South Carolina’s Folly Beach. Cate takes up residence in a small coastal cottage called Porgy House where she must examine her past to move her life forward. Unfortunately, this gentle, literary tale does not translate well to audio. The problem certainly doesn’t lie with narrator Robin Miles, whose rendition of Cate is likable and believable, and who expertly voices the book’s other characters, including Cate’s crotchety but loving aunt, her well-meaning children, and her sassy best friend. The issue is one of pacing. Despite Miles’s best efforts, the book’s momentum slows to a crawl. The story progresses so gradually that listening becomes tedious and hours pass with only minor plot movement. A William Morrow hardcover.