Review: The Hurricane Sisters

The Hurricane Sisters

by Dorothea Benton Frank

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 320

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Best friends since the first day of classes at The College of Charleston, Ashley Anne Waters and Mary Beth Smythe, now 23 years old, live in Ashley's parents' beach house rent-free. Ashley is a gallery assistant who aspires to become an artist. Mary Beth, a gifted cook from Tennessee, works for a caterer while searching for a good teaching job. Though they both know what they want out of life, their parents barely support their dreams and worry for their precarious finances.

While they don't make much money, the girls do have a million-dollar view that comes with living in that fabulous house on Sullivans Island. Sipping wine on the porch and watching a blood-red sunset, Ashley and Mary Beth hit on a brilliant and lucrative idea. With a new coat of paint, the first floor would be a perfect place for soirees for paying guests. Knowing her parents would be horrified at the idea of common strangers trampling through their home, Ashley won't tell them. Besides, Clayton and Liz Waters have enough problems of their own.

A successful investment banker, Clayton is too often found in his pied-a-terre in Manhattan--which Liz is sure he uses to have an affair. And when will Ashley and her brother, Ivy, a gay man with a very wealthy and very Asian life partner--ever grow up? Then there is Maisie, Liz's mother, the family matriarch who has just turned eighty, who never lets Liz forget that she's not her perfect dead sister, Juliet.

Kritters Thoughts:  Three generations of women tell the story with short appearances by Clayton the husband of the middle generation.  A grandmother, mother and daughter all live in Charleston, SC and each have different life issues that they are dealing with and all have opinions on how the others are handling their issues.  

I absolutely adored the concept of the book and the way each woman was given a few chapters throughout the book to both move the story along and share their side of the story.  I appreciated how the author shared how in each season of life there are bumps and decisions and things to deal with and they are relative to what stage you are in.  

Unfortunately, this story fell sort of flat for me.  There were moments where I wanted the story to move along a little more, but it kind of plateaued for me.  I am still a huge Dorothea Benton Frank and will look forward to her next one, but this one didn't rank in my top of her books.

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.