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    Shem Creek: A Lowcountry Tale
    Shem Creek: A Lowcountry Tale
    Shem Creek: A Lowcountry Tale
    Audiobook10 hours

    Shem Creek: A Lowcountry Tale

    Written by Dorothea Benton Frank

    Narrated by Sandra Burr, Dick Hill and Anita Singleton Prather of The Gullah Kinfolk as Louise

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Meet Linda Breland, single parent of two teenage daughters. The oldest, Lindsey, who always held her younger sister in check, is leaving for college. And Gracie, her Tasmanian devil, is giving her nightmares. Linda's personal life? Well, between the married men, the cold New Jersey winters, her pinched wallet and her ex-husband who marries a beautiful, successful woman ten years younger than she is—let's just say, Linda has seen enough to fill a thousand pages.

    As the story opens, she is barreling down Interstate 95, bound for Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the land of her ancestors. Welcomed by the generous heart of her advice-dispensing sister, Mimi, Linda and her daughters slowly begin to find their way and discover a sweeter rhythm of life.

    And then there's Brad Jackson, a former investment banker of Atlanta, Georgia, who hires her to run his restaurant on Shem Creek. Like everyone else, Brad's got a story of his own—namely an almost ex-wife, Loretta, who is the kind of gal who gives women a bad name.

    The real protagonist of this story is the Lowcountry itself. The magical waters of Shem Creek, the abundant wildlife and the astounding power of nature give this tiny corner of the planet its infallible reputation as a place for introspection, contemplation, and healing.

    As in all Dorothea Benton Frank's previous work, you'll find Shem Creek to be compulsively listenable, irreverent but warm, and blazingly authentic—and you'll dread reaching the last page. It is her vivid writing, colorful characters and rich narrative that have made Frank one of our nation's greatest storytellers. Shem Creek is a triumphant novel that proves we are all entitled to a second chance. The challenge is to learn how to recognize it when it comes and to know which chance to take.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMay 16, 2017
    ISBN9781543612271
    Shem Creek: A Lowcountry Tale
    Author

    Dorothea Benton Frank

    New York Times bestseller Dorothea Benton Frank was born and raised on Sullivans Island, South Carolina. Until her passing in 2019, Dorothea and her husband split their time between New Jersey and South Carolina. A contemporary voice of the South, Dorothea Benton Frank was beloved by fans and friends alike since her debut novel Sullivans Island. Readers from coast to coast fell for the quick wit and the signature humor that permeated her many bestselling novels.

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    Reviews for Shem Creek

    4/5

    170 ratings10 reviews

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    • 3/5
      So far the weakest book it the Low Country series.
      Boring story and ridiculous situations. It was like the author had a contract to fulfill. Hopefully this was a one off situation.
    • 4/5
      It grew on me, and I liked the way she ended it.
    • 2/5
      I’ve spent a lot of time in the Shem Creek area, so I looked forward to listening to this book. About 45 minutes or so into it I was beyond tired of the cartoonish characterizations of southerners. And the conversation was patronizing at best.

      There are far too many well-written and compelling books out there. Don’t waste your time on this drivel.
    • 5/5
      Entertaining story VERY well done by the readers! It was like listening to a play.
    • 5/5
      All of Benton-Frank's novels are great summer beach reads. Can't put them down once I start.
    • 3/5
      Not super crazy about this book. I dont like books that are written in first person, as a rule. I also dont like the type of humor that are in this type of book. That said, after I finally got into the story around 100 pages or so, it ended up being very cute. Sometimes the chapters were narrated by different people and it didnt tell you that was happeneing. You would read a page or two and then be like, what? And realize that it was from a different characters perspective. Very confusing. Would not recommend if you had something better to read, but not horrible.
    • 3/5
      easy read good recipies,
    • 2/5
      I give this a book a meh, it was ok, hand wave. The parts I loved: the description of the area, the creek itself, the beach, the lifestyle the characters led, the cute boathouse on the water they lived in. I fell more in love with the idea of this book, I think, than the actual book itself. What I didn't like: The crazy sudden relationship at the end between Linda and Brad- throughout most of the book you maybe got the sense that Linda was starting to develop a crush on Brad, but you didn't get the feeling that he reciprocated. I also was put off by the lack of concern for the environment in this book- the book is set in such a gorgeous area of the United States, the author makes a point to mention that it is being destroyed, but the only character who really cares about it is an extremist maniac. It was interesting, I guess, to see this issue from the other side, from a business who is contributing to the demise of the creek by trying to make a living, not realizing that what they are doing is causing the creek to essentially become a dead creek. I didn't like that the characters learned this, and didn't seem to care. I think at one point, Linda's character actually says something like "like who cares, right?" when referring to the environmental problems. Only after the restaurant is burned down by the extremist character, do they make concessions - they move the newly built restaurant back further from the creek, add appropriate drainage, and make brochures. But it just seemed really throw away to me. What I could overlook: the quick turnaround in behavior from the youngest daughter, and the ease in which Linda rebuilds a brand new life.I think this book was just ok- I liked the other Frank book I read better. I will probably read her again, however, since I have read one good, one marginal. This book is a great vacation book, but not really much more than that.
    • 1/5
      This book is AWFUL. It is stupid, pointless and a huge waste of time. What dumb characters. There is no story here. Not recommended at all.
    • 2/5
      Linda, a recently divorced mom from New Jersey, decides to move back to South Carolina to get her younger daughter away from the influence of tough friends. She gains a 'family' through her job as manager at a local restaurant and also has the benefit of living near her only sister. Pretty predictable but entertaining. I enjoy reading about 'the low country' and recommend another author--Anne Rivers Siddons.