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

Folly Beach is a good summer read. This was my first experience with this author, and would certainly give another book by Ms. Benton a try. Cate becomes a widow and faces a plethora of challenges at the very beginning of the story, way more than is believable. However, these are what leads her to Folly Beach to stay in the Porgy House now owned by her eccentric aunt, who is, in my opinion, the most believable character in the book. Cate begins to reevaluate her life, and at the same time, is haunted by the former residents of the house, the Heywards who were intimates of George Gershwin and responsible for Porgy and Bess. Cate's story and that of the Heywards are presented in alternating chapters. As a reader, I was somewhat distracted by the "play" format which introduced each Heyward chapter, and thought it wasn't needed. All in all, tuck it into your beach bag and kick back on Folly Beach.

Having just returned from a visit to my son's near Charleston, South Carolina, I was taken with Dorothea Benton Frank's intimate knowledge of the area, hinted at as she lead us to the Gullah culture, sweetgrass baskets, and local institutions. Frank braids two differing story lines--which at first seem disconnected--into a tale of a woman's success after what appears to be utter domestic devastation. The author's imagination offers some story portions that are a bit too convenient, but "Folly Beach" is an easy summer read with historic interest for those who enjoy theater, and those who love a good romance.

Folly Beach is one of several books written by this author that takes place near Charleston, South Carolina.  I love this part of the country, and therefore I do enjoy her descriptions of the beach, the sounds, smells, houses, food, and people.  Some of the characters are quirky, a bit eccentric, and endearing.
 The book includes the script of a play, which I was a little skeptical about when I started reading.  As I read, I realized how much it added to the storyline and characters. The author also included, and used, historical information about well known people living in the nineteen twenties and thirties.  Historical fiction lovers will enjoy this addition to the plot.
Folly Beach was an easy read.  This book is written for women, and will be the perfect book to read on vacation because it is light, keeps your interest, and takes you away to another place and time.  Take it to the beach!

I read this over a long weekend while sitting on the beach at Tybee Island, GA so it was a literal "beach book". Enjoyed the low country setting. Found the relationship between Cate and John to be a little too rushed to completely draw me in and make me a believer.
Would recommend to others looking to learn more about the low country.

While I never have read anything by this author, I did like the book. I enjoyed the going back and forth in the story,but I felt I was reading about today's happenings to people: Losing their homes,money and etc. The best part of the book was the historical history about Charleston Renaissance of the early twenties. I would recommend this book to my friends.

The book was written in an interesting format I had not incurred before. Unfortunately, it took me most of the book to understand why. Maybe I should describe it as a 'pleasant' read in that the story flowed smoothly but nothing particularly grabbed me - characters, location, plot. Perhaps I would consider it a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10.

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.

In my opinion this was definitely a "beach book." I enjoyed the historical aspect of Dorothy and DuBose Heyward - I will research more about them. I liked the low country setting although I have read other authors that I Iiked more such as Anne Rivers Siddons. The Cate and John relationship was too quick to be real in my opinion and the dialogue between them toward the end was rather high schoolish. As I said it is a nice beach read.