Ode to Dorothea Benton Frank
Last summer I had the honor of reading the Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank. Do I consider this book a beach read? Yes, it is. It is also the last book that Dorothea Benton Frank will ever share with the public. I also had an opportunity to meet her once. She passed away last summer and was at the top of my list when came to thinking of my favorite writers that publish during this beach read season. A patron where I work highly recommended this one. Beekeeper Holly McNee Jensen quietly lives in a world of her own on Sullivans Island, tending her hives and working at the local island library. Holly calls her mother The Queen Bee because she’s a demanding hulk of a woman. Her mother, a devoted hypochondriac, might be unaware that she’s quite ill but that doesn’t stop her from tormenting Holly. To escape the drama, Holly’s sister Leslie married and moved away, wanting little to do with island life. Holly’s escape is to submerge herself in the lives of the two young boys ne