Review of Dorothea Benton Frank's Same Beach, Next Year
I saw the cover of Dorothea Benton Frank's book Same Beach, Next Year and I knew I had to read it. It looked like a fun summertime book so it would be perfect to take on vacation with me. The book did not disappoint. It was full of drama, fun, and it leaves you wondering what is going to happen next.
The story is mainly told by Eliza, who is Adam's wife. They have twin sons together. They go on vacation to the Isle of Palms one year and are surprised to run into someone from Adam's past. Eve is on vacation with her husband Carl and their daughter. Adam and Eve used to date years before, but each fail to mention exactly how close they were to their spouses. The two couples find that they get along great together and so do their children. They each buy a condo in the Isle of Palms and they meet there each summer. They watch each other's kids grow up and they grow closer each year. Everything is fine until one of the couples start having hard times and the question of infidelity is brought up. This brings a whole new set of problems to the couples.
Will the couples be able to pull through this and remain friends? Will each couple even remain a couple? There is a lot of drama and excitement during the book, more than enough to keep you reading and entertained. It is hard to put it down because you constantly want to know what happens next. To me, this is the best kind of problem to have with a book, it means it is well written and entertaining.
This book brings up several questions about friendships, lies, telling the whole story, and many other important issues. One of the big issues is, if you just do not admit to something, is it a lie? A betrayal? Or just simply an omission? More than likely you will see it one way and others will see it a different way. It is easy to justify not telling someone something because it is in the past and should not matter but chances are, it will matter. Another thing this book goes into depth about is friendship. There are obviously different levels to friendships, some are deep, lifelong friendships while others are more in the moment and could fade away at any time. Some are a little more complicated, like the friendships of Adam, Eliza, Eve and Carl. They seem to be great friends on the surface but when more is asked of them, are they willing to show how good of friends they really are?
I highly recommend this book, it is well written and each character has their own personality and story yet they all fit into the main story. I love that the extended family from each side is part of the book, it adds to the characters and gives you more of a feel for who they are. Because of my love for this book I have read others by the author and intend to read more. I love finding a good author that has several books avaibable, it is like Christmas!!!
