The Hurricane Sisters

"My husband, Clayton and I were at the police station getting my mother, Maisie, out of jail for brushing up against the wrong side of the law. Her actual charges were still unclear. She claims it is not against any law in the state of South Carolina to take a llama for a walk on the open road. He was, after all, on a leash. The local police beg to differ, saying this is a case of animal cruelty, endangerment, and reckless behavior. Legal or not, it wasn't normal. I was glad they brought her in to the police station until I could get there because her behavior surely demonstrates a lack of sound judgement. Or not. Maiise was crazy like a fox and we all knew it. So I sat and waited while Clayton made things right between the Town of Mount Pleasant and Maisie writing a check.

Anyway, the jailhouse may seem like an insensitive place to begin my story, but I think it's best if you know the truth about what my family is like. Too many times we all get introduced to people who seem perfectly nice and later on you find out they're cracked. So, like people used to say, I'm cutting to the chase and telling it like it is. Every single person in this family is highly opinionated. You wouldn't believe how smart and clever they think they are. And even after the hurricane and all we went through with my daughter, Ashley, Maisie still can't be trusted. And maybe it's a good thing." (Excerpt from Prologue).

In the latest novel from best-selling author Dorothea Benton Frank, The Hurricane Sisters, the reader is taken on a journey to the South Carolina Lowcountry through three generations of of women who each have their own family secrets that they have been kept hidden. From Maisie Pringle who at eighty years young still has as much spunk as her daughter Liz. Maisie is set in her ways and since she can't drive because she forgets where she has parked her car and at times what she is doing behind the wheel, her family has hired her a driver, Skipper, whom she has fallen in love with, a man twenty years younger than she is. Her daughter Liz and her husband Clayton are struggling within their marriage to remember just what brought them together and trying to decide if it's worth it to stay together. For their daughter Ashley, she is struggling to make it financially on ten dollars and hour while living in her parents beach house that is in a state of disrepair. If only she can live the American dream and marry a rich man, maybe her parents can get off her back and leave her alone.

I received The Hurricane Sisters from Dorothea Benton Frank compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions are strictly my own unless otherwise notated. This is certainly a believable story spanning three generations of women. Maisie is favored by the grandchildren because she understands how difficult it can be being parented by Liz and Clayton who are trying to force their kids to make their own way in the world despite being more wealthy than they can ever spend all their money on. They are dealing with their own identity crisis's when Liz becomes involved in a non profit dealing with helping abused women. Little does she understand how personal the cause will be when it strikes where she least expects is and fails to see the signs. The story behind the story is the realization on just how abuse among women and children are in this country and how little is being done to help the victims. Restraining orders don't help and often times the abused become murder victims of their own spouses and boyfriends. I think the awareness Dorothea brings to this is well worth the time to read the novel. I easily give this one a 4 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

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The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank

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