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I called Dorothea Benton Frank's The Last Original Wife the beach read for boomers in my recent review. I loved so much about it- the characters, the humor, the sibling relationship between Les and her brother Harlan, being introduced to author Josephine Pinckney, and the setting of Charleston.
My husband and I visited Charleston two years ago and we fell in love with the city. We ate in some amazing restaurants (my husband said he had the best meal ever at Hall's Chophouse), toured the city, wandered around and just relaxed.
Frank gave some great restaurant recommendations in her novel, and I immediately pinned them to my Charleston Pinterest board, which you can see here. I can't wait to go back to Charleston and try these new places.
There was also a paragraph in the novel that had me salivating. Les has just arrived at her friend Danette's new home. Danette's husband had left her for a younger woman, leaving Les as "the last original wife" in her social circle. Les brought over some snacks to share.
"I've got enough food for an army." I began unpacking. Imitating the voice of Rachael Ray, I said, "We've got pimiento cheese with pickled jalapenos to be served with crostini and EVOO, butterbean hummus presented with pita chips and EVOO, a baby spinach salad with sliced turkey and tahini green goddess on the side for you and muffaletta for me with balsamic and EVOO. Oh! And a brownie to share. Without EVOO. Ha-ha-ha."This is the kind of friend we all want, and the next time I'm having a friend over, I am so stealing this menu.
Frank is signing books at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth, DE on July 2nd, and I will be there on vacation. I can't wait to see her again and tell her face-to-face how much I loved her book.
Oh lucky you! Not only do you live in the city and get to go to events, you get to go to events when on vacation! Say hi to Dottie, she was a joy to meet.
ReplyDeleteAnd I remember that scene from the book almost word for word -- loved it!
those 'snacks' sound delish!
ReplyDeleteenjoy your vacation and the signing.
I've never been to Charleston, but the hubby and I went to Savannah, its sister city, for our honeymoon. I'd love to go, though. It looks like a great town.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun book to inspire both vacations and meals.
ReplyDeleteLove Charleston!
ReplyDeleteHad not heard of this book; will have to look for it . . . and ready myself to drool on those snacks.
I have never been to Charleston but would love to take in the sights. The snacks sound pretty good, I would steal that menu too.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading this one. Cheers
ReplyDeleteIf you make it back to Charleston, you must go to Husk!
ReplyDeleteI picked up this book in Barnes and Noble and read the first 100 pages or so. It was great. Unfortunately I have a towering TBR pile and couldn't really justify buying another book at the moment.
ReplyDeleteOh, that bit of dialogue is FUNNY! I like it, and I can see that food probably informs much of the book. Thanks for sharing! I hope you get to go back to Charleston soon.
ReplyDelete