The Hurricane Sisters: A Novel

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication Date
2014
Language
English

Description

Hurricane season begins early and rumbles all summer long, well into September. Often people's lives reflect the weather and The Hurricane Sisters is just such a story.

Once again New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank takes us deep into the heart of her magical South Carolina Lowcountry on a tumultuous journey filled with longings, disappointments, and, finally, a road toward happiness that is hard earned. There we meet three generations of women buried in secrets. The determined matriarch, Maisie Pringle, at eighty, is a force to be reckoned with because she will have the final word on everything, especially when she's dead wrong. Her daughter, Liz, is caught up in the classic maelstrom of being middle-age and in an emotionally demanding career that will eventually open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz's beautiful twenty-something daughter, Ashley, whose dreamy ambitions of her unlikely future keeps them all at odds.

Luckily for Ashley, her wonderful older brother, Ivy, is her fierce champion but he can only do so much from San Francisco where he resides with his partner. And Mary Beth, her dearest friend, tries to have her back but even she can't talk headstrong Ashley out of a relationship with an ambitious politician who seems slightly too old for her.

Actually, Ashley and Mary Beth have yet to launch themselves into solvency. Their prospects seem bleak. So while they wait for the world to discover them and deliver them from a ramen-based existence, they placate themselves with a hare-brained scheme to make money but one that threatens to land them in huge trouble with the authorities.

So where is Clayton, Liz's husband? He seems more distracted than usual. Ashley desperately needs her father's love and attention but what kind of a parent can he be to Ashley with one foot in Manhattan and the other one planted in indiscretion? And Liz, who's an expert in the field of troubled domestic life, refuses to acknowledge Ashley's precarious situation. Who's in charge of this family? The wake-up call is about to arrive.

The Lowcountry has endured its share of war and bloodshed like the rest of the South, but this storm season we watch Maisie, Liz, Ashley, and Mary Beth deal with challenges that demand they face the truth about themselves. After a terrible confrontation they are forced to rise to forgiveness, but can they establish a new order for the future of them all?

Frank, with her hallmark scintillating wit and crisp insight, captures how a complex family of disparate characters and their close friends can overcome anything through the power of love and reconciliation. This is the often hilarious, sometimes sobering, but always entertaining story of how these unforgettable women became The Hurricane Sisters.

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ISBN
9780062132536

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Also in this Series

Similar Series From Novelist

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Both series offer the reader a leisurely visit with the landscape, people and traditions of South Carolina coastal culture, in the context of modern characters dealing with fallout from long-held family secrets. -- Lynne Welch
These character-driven Southern fiction series follow troubled women who return home to reconnect with friends and family on idyllic islands in South Carolina's low country. While generally a prelude to heartwarming emotional healing, their homecomings can also bring up painful memories. -- Mike Nilsson
Though Blessings has Christian themes and Lowcountry Tales is a secular series, both of these engaging gentle reads follow women who find belonging in the relationships they create in their cozy small towns. -- Stephen Ashley
Exploring fraught relationships within marriages and between siblings and parents, these novels are set in South Carolina's low country (Lowcountry Tales) and in picturesque coastal Georgia (Peachtree Bluff). Each heartwarming story presents female protagonists embarking on a journey toward reconciliation and growth. -- Mike Nilsson
These series have the genres "southern fiction" and "relationship fiction."
These series have the genres "southern fiction" and "relationship fiction"; and the subjects "families" and "family relationships."
These series have the genre "relationship fiction"; and the subject "female friendship."
These series have the appeal factors moving, and they have the genres "relationship fiction" and "gentle reads."
These series have the appeal factors leisurely paced, and they have the theme "ensemble casts"; the genres "relationship fiction" and "gentle reads"; and the subject "female friendship."

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the appeal factors moving, and they have the theme "family gatherings"; the genre "relationship fiction"; and the subjects "young women," "family relationships," and "former lovers."
These books have the appeal factors atmospheric, and they have the theme "bouncing back"; the genres "relationship fiction" and "southern fiction"; and the subject "mothers and daughters."
These books have the theme "home again"; the genres "relationship fiction" and "southern fiction"; and the subjects "islands," "mothers and daughters," and "hometowns."
NoveList recommends "Blessings" for fans of "Lowcountry tales (Dorothea Benton Frank)". Check out the first book in the series.
Three women from three different generations of the same family come together in each of these leisurely paced tales of domestic fiction set in South Carolina. When they're tested by circumstances beyond their control, will their bonds strengthen or break? -- Shauna Griffin
These books have the theme "family gatherings"; the genre "relationship fiction"; and the subjects "family relationships," "mothers and daughters," and "hometowns."
These books have the appeal factors bittersweet, and they have the theme "ensemble casts"; the genres "relationship fiction" and "southern fiction"; and the subjects "family relationships" and "female friendship."
These books have the theme "bouncing back"; the genres "relationship fiction" and "southern fiction"; and the subject "islands."
NoveList recommends "Cavanaugh Island novels" for fans of "Lowcountry tales (Dorothea Benton Frank)". Check out the first book in the series.
These character-driven novels explore the complex relationships between mothers and daughters; each set in South Carolina, they also incorporate details of life in the Low Country. -- Shauna Griffin
These books have the appeal factors moving, and they have the themes "family gatherings," "unhappy families," and "ensemble casts"; the genres "relationship fiction" and "literary fiction"; and the subjects "family relationships" and "families."
These atmospheric, leisurely-paced novels feature strong female characters at crossroads in their lives. Both have a touch of romance and deal with the complex relationships of sisters influenced by a family matriarch. -- Pat Holly

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Like Dorothea Benton Frank, Adriana Trigiani fills her writing with strong women who meet the trials of life with humor and fortitude. Trigiani has a similar talent for drawing her readers into her novels with an easy conversational style. In addition, she often emphasizes the sustaining nature of friendship. -- Krista Biggs
Jill McCorkle and Dorothea Benton Frank's women's fiction features strong Southern women and showcases relationships, from friendships to the way people relate to the world around them. They both feature independent, everyday women in realistic situations, often dealing with family and friends. -- Rebecca Vnuk
Both Dorothea Benton Frank and Anne Rivers Siddons write contemporary fiction set in the South. Their characters are women facing major problems who return home to the comfort of family to heal. -- Nanci Milone Hill
Both Dorothea Benton Frank and Maeve Binchy write leisurely domestic fiction centered on relationships. Family and friendship are paramount, and the resulting crises and interactions draw the reader along as the narrative progresses. -- Lynne Welch
Betty Neals and Dorothea Benton Frank both write leisurely paced, contemporary romances featuring richly detailed settings in the country. The female protagonists in Neels's novels are initially subordinate to the male protagonists, while the heroines in Frank's work are strong women coping with life's vicissitudes. Frank's tales include abundant humor. -- Mike Nilsson
The novels of Dorothea Benton Frank and Mary Alice Monroe feature the same Southern, coastal setting, and portray ordinary women dealing with the issues in their lives. -- Nanci Milone Hill
These authors write leisurely domestic fiction that explores the wide range of relationships in which their characters engage. Both family and friendship are important to the characters. Setting is carefully developed and integral to plot as well. -- Lynne Welch
These authors' works have the appeal factors leisurely paced, and they have the genres "relationship fiction" and "gentle reads"; and the subjects "husband and wife," "extramarital affairs," and "self-discovery."
These authors' works have the genres "relationship fiction" and "mainstream fiction"; and the subjects "husband and wife," "extramarital affairs," and "mothers and daughters."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

In Frank's fourteenth South Carolina novel (Porch Lights, 2012), prominent, conservative Charlestonians Liz and Clayton Waters are none too happy with their family. Never mind the constant antics of Liz's octogenarian mother, Maisie, and her boy-toy, live-in companion, Skipper. Their exuberant daughter, Ashley, refuses to pursue either a meaningful career or a potential husband, harboring instead dreams of being a celebrated artist. Meanwhile, their son, Ivy (for Clayton Waters IV), is a hip, San Francisco men's clothier, along with James, his Asian business- and life-partner. 'Nuff said. Each hypercritical parent manages to cope in his or her own way: Liz, by running a battered-women's shelter; Clayton, by running off to Manhattan and having an illicit affair. But when Skipper suffers a stroke and Ashley is brutally attacked by a seemingly merely smarmy state senator, Liz and Clayton rally to their sides and rediscover the strength and solace only a strong family can provide. Hidden beneath Frank's trademark buoyant and breezy Low Country patois is a passionate expose of South Carolina's alarming problem with domestic abuse.--Haggas, Carol Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Library Journal Review

Take a trip down to the Carolina Low Country in Frank's (Sullivan's Island) latest novel, featuring three generations of women and their experiences with love, trust, and the unbreakable bond of family. Ashley is in her mid-20s, struggling to explore her passion as an artist while remaining afloat financially through an illegal business venture. Her mother, Liz, is so busy helping abused women and children that she cannot face the reality that her marriage is crumbling and her son is gay. Grandma Maisie, a spit-and-vinegar octogenarian, moves in with a younger man and sets the family's world on fire with her hard-earned wisdom and wit. But when Ashley gets involved with an aggressive politician, the family must ditch the drama and rally to keep her safe. -VERDICT With a host of subplots and constant foreshadowing, this multigenerational title falls somewhat short. While it would serve as a quick summer read and does include valuable information about domestic violence, the rotating point-of-view narrative style results in a lack of depth and leaves the reader wanting more. [See Prepub Alert, 1/6/14.]-Chelsie Harris, San -Diego Cty. Lib. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Powered by Syndetics

Booklist Reviews

In Frank's fourteenth South Carolina novel (Porch Lights, 2012), prominent, conservative Charlestonians Liz and Clayton Waters are none too happy with their family. Never mind the constant antics of Liz's octogenarian mother, Maisie, and her boy-toy, live-in companion, Skipper. Their exuberant daughter, Ashley, refuses to pursue either a meaningful career or a potential husband, harboring instead dreams of being a celebrated artist. Meanwhile, their son, Ivy (for Clayton Waters IV), is a hip, San Francisco men's clothier, along with James, his Asian business- and life-partner. 'Nuff said. Each hypercritical parent manages to cope in his or her own way: Liz, by running a battered-women's shelter; Clayton, by running off to Manhattan and having an illicit affair. But when Skipper suffers a stroke and Ashley is brutally attacked by a seemingly merely smarmy state senator, Liz and Clayton rally to their sides and rediscover the strength and solace only a strong family can provide. Hidden beneath Frank's trademark buoyant and breezy Low Country patois is a passionate exposé of South Carolina's alarming problem with domestic abuse. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
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Library Journal Reviews

Take a trip down to the Carolina Low Country in Frank's (Sullivan's Island) latest novel, featuring three generations of women and their experiences with love, trust, and the unbreakable bond of family. Ashley is in her mid-20s, struggling to explore her passion as an artist while remaining afloat financially through an illegal business venture. Her mother, Liz, is so busy helping abused women and children that she cannot face the reality that her marriage is crumbling and her son is gay. Grandma Maisie, a spit-and-vinegar octogenarian, moves in with a younger man and sets the family's world on fire with her hard-earned wisdom and wit. But when Ashley gets involved with an aggressive politician, the family must ditch the drama and rally to keep her safe. VERDICT With a host of subplots and constant foreshadowing, this multigenerational title falls somewhat short. While it would serve as a quick summer read and does include valuable information about domestic violence, the rotating point-of-view narrative style results in a lack of depth and leaves the reader wanting more. [See Prepub Alert, 1/6/14.]—Chelsie Harris, San Diego Cty. Lib.

[Page 85]. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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