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Title details for Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank - Available

Queen Bee

A Novel

by Dorothea Benton Frank
Shannon McManus
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available

"If I could only read one writer from now until the end of my life, it would be Dorothea Benton Frank."" —Elin Hilderbrand, the New York Times bestselling author

Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of New York Times bestselling author Dorthea Benton Frank's Carolina Lowcountry in this evocative tale that returns at long last to her beloved Sullivan's Island.
Beekeeper Holly McNee Kensen quietly lives in a world of her own on Sullivan's 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 next door and their widowed father, Archie.

Her world is upended when the more flamboyant Leslie returns and both sisters, polar opposites, fixate on what's happening in their neighbor's home. Is Archie really in love with that awful ice queen of a woman? If Archie marries her, what will become of his little boys? Restless Leslie is desperate for validation after her imploded marriage, squandering her favors on any and all takers. Their mother ups her game in an uproarious and theatrical downward spiral. Scandalized Holly is talking to her honey bees a mile a minute, as though they'll give her a solution to all the chaos. Maybe they will.

Queen Bee is a classic Lowcountry Tale, warm, wise and hilarious, roars with humanity and a dropperful of whodunit added for good measure by an unseen hand. In her twentieth novel, Dorothea Benton Frank brings us back to her beloved island with an unforgettable story where the Lowcountry magic of the natural world collides with the beat of the human heart.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 28, 2019

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780062861245
      • File size: 291891 KB
      • Duration: 10:08:06

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      December 1, 2018

      Holly lives quietly on Sullivan's Island, tending bees, tolerating her demanding mother, and helping widowed Archie next door with his two small boys. Then her over-the-top sister arrives, on the cusp of divorce and suddenly interested in Archie. With a 250,000-copy first printing.

      Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 27, 2019
      Bestseller Frank (By Invitation Only) shows off her formidable storytelling chops and her gift for creating memorable characters in this quirky and delightful Southern tale. Holly McNee Jensen, a teacher and beekeeper also caring for her demanding hypochondriac mother (whom she refers to as the Queen Bee), is marking time on tiny Sullivan’s Island, S.C. She falls hard for her widower neighbor, Archie MacLean, and his two sweet young sons, Tyler and Hunter, and all’s seemingly going well until Holly’s much-cosseted sister, Leslie, comes home, having left her husband over his penchant for crossdressing. Chaos reigns. Leslie and the Queen Bee travel to Las Vegas, and Holly gets a rude awakening when Archie marries someone else. In the end, Holly learns that happily-ever-after can come in the most unexpected of circumstances. A colorful supporting cast rounds out the story. Full of Low Country flavor and brilliantly imagined characters, this laugh-out-loud-hilarious novel with a wistful edge will satisfy anyone who wants to see flawed people getting second chances. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, William Morris Endeavor.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Shannon McManus performs this Lowcountry story about three women, each on the brink of change. Holly raises bees while waiting for a teaching position to open up at the local elementary school, Leslie has moved back home because her marriage is in trouble, and their mother--referred to as the Queen Bee--is starting to have health issues. Although generally engaging, the performance would have benefited from more sharply distinguished voices to make the dialogue easier to follow. But McManus's hint of a Southern accent helps ground the audiobook to the Sullivan Island setting, and her lively delivery amplifies the humor and drama that ensue after the women, reunited under one roof, attempt to sort out their love lives, their family dynamics, and their futures. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
    • Booklist

      May 1, 2019
      Just as the queen bee is the undisputed ruler of a hive, so, too, is Holly's overbearing mother the dominant female in a house that, until recently, also included Holly's sister, Leslie. When Leslie married Charlie and moved away from their home on Sullivan's Island, Holly's role as the worker bee became more pronounced. As an avid amateur beekeeper, it's a function Holly knows all too well. Luckily, she finds respite in caring for and about the young sons of her alluring widower neighbor. But when Archie marries a woman who is the epitome of the wicked stepmother, Holly struggles to oversee the boys' best interests without jeopardizing her friendship with Archie. When Leslie's marriage hits the skids after Charlie reveals his preference to live as a female impersonator in Las Vegas, Holly gets the emotional reinforcement she needs to deal with the queen bees at home and next door. Franks' fanciful and frothy slice of Lowcountry life is a feel-good, read-in-one-sitting escapeHIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Benton has been delighting readers with tales of her native Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, for 20 years, and her newest will rally fans and all seeking diverting women's fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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