Return to Sullivans Island: A Novel

“Her books are funny, sexy, and usually damp with seawater.”
—Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides

In Return to Sullivans Island, Dorothea Benton Frank revisits the enchanted landscape of South Carolina’s Lowcountry made famous in her beloved New York Times bestseller Sullivans Island. Frank focuses on the next generation of Hamiltons and Hayes, earning high praise from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which writes, “Frank brings to vivid life the rich landscape and its unpretentious folks….A reader need only close her eyes for a moment to feel that thick-sticky heat, smell the wild salt marshes.” If you enjoy getting lost in the works of Anne Rivers Siddons, Rebecca Wells, and Pat Conroy—novels brimming with atmosphere and strong Southern charm—you are going to love Dotty Frank’s Return to Sullivans Island.

Beloved New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank returns to the enchanted landscape of South Carolina's Lowcountry to tell the story of the next generation of Hamiltons and Hayeses.

Newly graduated from college, Beth Hayes must put all her grand ambitions on hold when the family elders elect her to house-sit the Island Gamble, ghosts and all. Instead of conquering new worlds, Beth will rest and rejuvenate while basking in memory and the magic of white clapboards and shimmering blue waters. But there is much about life and her family's past that she does not yet understand—and her simple plans begin unraveling with the intrusion of developer Max Mitchell. Still, everything here happens for a reason—and disappointment, betrayal, even tragedy are more easily handled when surrounded by loving family and loyal friends.

Frank keeps you reading compulsively. - Charlotte Observer

“One heck of a beach book . . . Frank keeps you reading compulsively.” - Charlotte Observer on Sullivan's Island

Tight storytelling, winsomely oddball characters and touches of Southern magic make this a winner. - Publishers Weekly

“A true southern comfort.” - Booklist

“A follow-up to Frank’s debut novel, Sullivan’s Island, this colorful contemporary romance effortlessly evokes the lush beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry while exploring the complexities of family relationships . . . if Frank’s newest receives the critical praise it deserves, it will climb the charts as well.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Plantation

“Frank’s absorbing narrative manages to feel both authentically Southern and universally empathetic.” - Publishers Weekly on Pawleys Island