Published by William Morrow ISBN 9780062390783
Hardcover, $27.99, 384 pages
This summer's book is Same Beach, Next Year set in her beloved Lowcountry of South Carolina. Each year Adam and Eliza and their young twin boys Luke and Max spend a few weeks at a vacation condo not far from home. Adam is a hardworking successful construction business owner and Eliza is a fabulous cook, who yearns to write a cookbook.
One year, a new couple takes the condo next door and it turns out the woman is Eve, Adam's first love. Eve is married to Carl, a hardworking, successful pediatrician and they have a young daughter, Daphne, about the twins' age, and they are joined by with Eve's mother Cookie.
The two couples get along famously, and although Eliza has her antenna up a bit about Adam and Eve, the fact that Carl is extremely handsome and shamelessly flirts with her distracts her somewhat.
The four become fast friends, and along with Ted, Adam's father, and Ted's girlfriend Clarabeth, it's one big happy family as they meet every year for two weeks and swim together, golf together and eat together.
Cookie likes to stir trouble, and she is hyper-critical of her daughter, which literally drives Eve to drink. Time flies by and Eve turns to Adam when she fears that Carl has been cheating on her. That sets in motion an incident that threatens two marriages and their friendship.
One of the things I love best about Frank's book is that she makes her characters relatable. Eliza has two sons (so do I), her dog Rufus is her best friend (mine was Malcolm, my late beloved basset hound) and Eliza loves to cook, as do I (well, most of the time).
This book is written from the perspectives of both Eliza and Adam, and I found it intriguing how Frank got into Adam's mindset. I have to say, though, I found his behavior and rationalizations puzzling, although I think each character makes some head-shaking choices here.
Since Eliza is a cook, we get some wonderfully descriptive foodie scenes, from Eliza's trip to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store to Eliza's family Christmas breakfast (I could almost smell the cinnamon on the page) to the feast that Eliza has with her Greek family in Corfu.
Same Beach, Next Year is another Dorothea Benton Frank winner, it's got everything you want in a summer beach read- great characters, sassy dialogue, interesting family and friend dynamics and a road trip to Greece. Maybe I should try covering my book in plastic so the sunscreen doesn't ruin the beautiful cover.
You may recognize the book's title- an homage to the Alan Alda-Ellen Burstyn movie, Same Time, Next Year, which if you haven't seen, you should. The IMDB link is here. (It was a play first.)
Dorothea Benton Frank's website is here.
Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Dorothea Benton Frank's tour. The rest of her stops are here:
Tour Stops
Tuesday, May 16th: Girl Who Reads
Wednesday, May 17th: bookchickdi
Thursday, May 18th: Kritters Ramblings
Friday, May 19th: Mom’s Small Victories
Monday, May 22nd: Stranded in Chaos
Tuesday, May 23rd: A Chick Who Reads
Wednesday, May 24th: Into the Hall of Books
Thursday, May 25th: Tina Says…
Friday, May 26th: The Book Bag
Monday, May 29th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Tuesday, May 30th: A Bookish Way of Life
Wednesday, May 31st: Girls Just Reading
Thursday, June 1st: Jathan & Heather
Friday, June 2nd: 5 Minutes For Books
Maybe wrapping the cover of the book in plastic wrap might help keep the sunscreen off. LOL! It certainly wouldn't be nearly as fun to read this book inside - it is an outdoor book for sure!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour!
Adding this to my wishlist.
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