Book Review: Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank

Southern literature queen Dorothea Benton Frank will be signing Porch Lights in Nashville tonight at Ann Patchett's bookstore Parnassus Books, and I really wish I were going. Last week I missed seeing Mary Kay Andrews at Parnassus, but I was comforted by the fact that I had previously met her. I've longed to meet Frank since adoring her first novel, Sullivan's Island. I'm actually going to be in Nashville tonight, but attending another event. My best girl friends and I are going to see Sarah McLachlan and the Nashville Symphony at the Schermerhorn. So I suppose I can be soothed by that.

A bit about the book: Army nurse Jackie Britt McMullen is home from multiple tours of duty when her husband, firefighter Jimmy McMullen, is killed while fighting a housefire. She and their ten-year-old son, Charlie, struggle to keep themselves above water in their home in Brooklyn, but Charlie slips further and further from Jackie.

In Porch Lights, Jackie decides that a trip to her family's home on Sullivan's Island is necessary for Charlie's well-being, even if residing in the same home with her mother for weeks on end may kill her. Annie Britt, Jackie's mother and a southern belle to the nth degree, thrills in her new mission -- providing healing for her grandson and daughter. She takes on their visit as her personal mission, redecorating bedrooms and planning menus. But she and Jackie haven't agreed on much of anything for years. How will they survive an entire summer together?

Why you want to read it: Frank is simply one of the best writers of southern lit in the game. Her novels are set in South Carolina's Low Country, a land with a rich history, beautiful sights, and good food. She incorporates all three into her novels, and Porch Lights is no exception. She also incorporates Edgar Allen Poe's time on Sullivan's Island into the pages of the novel, as Annie Britt is a self-taught expert on the subject. The characters visit Poe's Tavern for good eats, as well as Fort Moultrie, where Poe was stationed. Lines from Poe's short story "The Gold-bug" begin each chapter.

Frank is a master storyteller, and part of that skill lies in her ability to create dynamic characters who readers fall for despite their flaws. I enjoy her stories because I care deeply for the characters she creates. Jackie and Annie are main characters with many issues, difficult traits which cement their humanity. Jackie is stubborn when faced with her mother's efforts to help; Annie, for her part, is both stubborn and extraordinarily self-righteous. But the mother-daughter duo is also full of love for one another and for young Charlie. They both want what's best for their family, even while they don't agree on what that is. 

The side characters in Porch Lights are delightful, as well. Annie's neighbors add a sense of community to the  novel, as Jackie and Charlie are welcomed with open arms to their home-away-from-home. A handsome doctor provides a hint of romance, while best friend Deb shows readers another side of Annie. Buster (or Guster, as Charlie calls him), Annie's estranged husband and Jackie's father, brings comedy to the novel and is the perfect foil for Annie.

The bottom line: Told in alternating voices (Jackie's and Annie's), Porch Lights is a love letter to both complicated family relationships and South Carolina's Low Country. The novel celebrates both equally, in a tale that pulls at readers' heartstrings. I long to meet the characters and visit the beautiful island where they live. At its heart, Porch Lights is a novel that will remind us how important the people and places we love are.

About the author: Dorothea Benton Frank is the author of twelve previous novels, including a Christmas novella, The Christmas Pearl. All twelve are set on various islands and cities up and down the South Carolina coast, and all are a delight to read. She was born on Sullivan's Island, and now resides in both New Jersey and the South Carolina. You can read more about her and sample excerpts from her novels by visiting her website. You can also follow her on Twitter and on Facebook.

Once Upon a Time, There Was You Is Classic Elizabeth Berg

I have long loved Elizabeth Berg's writing. In high school, I read her ode to female friendship, Talk Before Sleep. It was a touching novel, one that continues to top my favorites of all time. I haven't missed anything she's written since.

Her latest novel, Once Upon a Time, There Was You is a prime example of the kind of books Berg writes best -- genuine novels that explore relationships, flaws and all. John and Irene are a couple once married, long divorced. Because they have a child together, their lives have been endlessly intertwined, despite being not married for far longer than they were together. Although each has had other relationships, neither has ever remarried. Instead, their lives have been poured into raising their child, Sadie.

John still lives in Minnesota, where the couple met and lived together as a family. After their divorce, Irene fled to San Francisco where she lives with Sadie. John gets Sadie on holidays and for summers. Now that Sadie is eighteen and moving on to college, her parents are at a crossroads themselves. Especially Irene, whose entire life has been devoted to raising her daughter, is at a loss as to the next step for her life.

Most of the novel is fairly devoid of action-filled plot; rather, it is an intense look at relationships and emotions. However, Berg deviated from this around page 100 and almost lost me for a few dozen pages. She rights herself again, however, and pulled me back into John and Irene's lives. Berg writes characters beautifully, and this novel is no exception. Irene, John, and Sadie are all rich characters whose intricacies and problems ring true.

Once Upon a Time, There Was You examines the major changes that take place in people's lives: becoming adults, leaving for college, getting married, getting divorced, moving. Ordinary, everyday events that are life-changing when viewed on the individual level.

Elizabeth Berg is the author of more than twenty novels and several non-fiction works. She can be found on the web at her website and blog. She also has several fun recipes on her website that I may look into with more depth once this week is complete and my summer has officially started!

Some Quiet, Quality Library Time

I ran to the library today... Returned all those cookbooks (which I didn't make ANYTHING out of -- they had some good recipes, but the last couple of weeks I've done very little cooking). I also returned a novel or two that I started and didn't enjoy. I love new choices, though, and I checked out several that I have high hopes for. Among them:

• Kitchen Express: 404 Inspired Seasonal Dishes You Can Make in 20 Minutes or Less by Mark Bittman -- I know, I know. Another cookbook. This one is really neat, though, because all of the recipes are not really recipes. They are written in easy-to-read, conversational paragraph form. May be a bit difficult to go without an ingredient list, but I like the way the recipes read, as though Bittman is in my kitchen teaching me new techniques.
• The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly -- I've put off finishing the last three books in the Michael Connelly library, simply because I didn't want my reading of him to be over! I hate when I finish every book a particular author has read and then I have to wait until they write something new. Some of those writers are so darn slow! Then again, I don't think I'd be quite as happy with the end result if they hurried through (think Danielle Steel or other prolific but terrible authors). But now I've taken the dive, so I give myself a week or so to finish all of his books. (I've already read 80 pages into this one!)
• The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III -- I finally read his House of Sand and Fog years after it was written and the movie came out. It was wonderful in its true emotion and grit. I'm looking forward to this one which just came out last year.
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver -- Have you noticed a trend in my memoir/ nonfiction reading lately? I've been consumed by foodie writings... Well, you only live once. You've got to go with what you know (and like) sometimes.
• Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story by Wally Lamb -- Lamb doesn't seem like the type to write a just-in-time-for-Christmas novel. He's only written three novels over a 15-or-so-year career. In other words, he's not popping off a new novel every 3-6 months to make millions. Nevertheless, this does have the words "Christmas" and "story" in the title... Even though I'm not big on seasonal books, I'm diving straight in because I have absolutely no qualms about reading anything at all written by Lamb. It'll be fabulous, and I'll let you know that it was after it's completed!

Happy reading!