It's a good purchase for libraries, but other than the Elin Hilderbrand story, I was not enthralled. It is a beautiful tribute to Dorothea Benton Frank, though.

I absolutely LOVE Dorothea Benton Frank and was crushed to hear of her passing. These incredible authors paid her the loveliest tribute with these fabulous stories!

Reunion Beach was to be the title of Dorothea Benton Frank's next title but sadly this larger-than-life beloved author was diagnosed with a fast-acting disease that claimed her life several months later.
She had many friends in the publishing industry and made all around her feel at ease.
The authors of this book collaborated on writing this title to honor her life by writing essays,stories,poems,sharing recipes and sharing memories.
I enjoyed all of the memories, but I'd have to say Adriana Trigiani's story of Postcards from Heaven was my favorite. It is written as if it's from her best writing friend Pat Conroy who passed before Dorothea. In his own way he did not leave her behind as he kept in touch. He sent post cards from heaven.
Nathalie Dupree, award winning cookbook author shares recipes for foods and drink.
This is a warm and moving anthology paying tribute to New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank.

Pub Date 27 Apr 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I mourned the loss of Dorthea Benton Frank like many did and I wanted to like this book so much, but it just wasn't my favorite.

This compilation of short stories by Elin Hilderbrand, Adriana Trigiani, Patti Callahan Henry Cassandra King, Nathalie Dupree, Marjory Wentworth, and Mary Alice Monroe was a lovely tribute to Dorothea Benton Frank. I originally was drawn to this book because of the Elin Hilderbrand short story, but did not realize it was a follow up to The Summer of '69, which I have not yet read and was disappointed to find out. I'm not a big fan of short stories, but do think this is a classic summer read that you can easily pop in and out of at the different entry points.

This is a lovely collection of stories, essays, and poems that are in memory of the author Dorothea Benton Frank. I've read some of the authors before and some were new to me. I very much enjoyed this collection and I've found some new authors to seek out.

This is a beautiful homage to Dorothea Benton Frank. It features short stories from some of the best Southern authors around as well as remembrances from her editor, her son, her daughter, and her husband. Before each story, each author shares a memory of Dottie - her amazing spirit and her love for family and friends. Dorothea Benton Frank will be missed but she has left a marvelous legacy in her novels. This book has inspired me to go back to her novels and read each and every one!

This book was published in tribute to Dorothea Benton Frank who passed away. She was friends with the authors of these short stories.
Elin Hilderbrand ,
Adriana Trigiani
Patti Callahan Henry
Cassandra King,
Nathalie Dupree,
Marjory Wentworth,
Mary Alice Monroe
All the stories are set at the beach and reature strong women who have problems and solve them with the help of friends and family. A perfect summer beach read with short stories, poems and essays that show the love fro grat summer reading. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I've come to understand that authors aren't quite the solitary beings that I've long envisioned. It seems that book signings and the industry itself give many chances for authors to meet, support each other, and even become lifelong friends. Dorothea Benton Frank was the type of person who drew people to her and to her Southern beach reads. As a tribute to her literary gifts, several authors with personal connections to Dorothea have put together an anthology of stories, poems and essays under the title Reunion Beach. You will recognize many of the names: Patti Callahan, Elin Hilderbrand, Adriana Trigiani, Mary Alice Monroe, and more. With settings along the Atlantic Coast and themes of family survival, reunification, and such, but with each author's contribution in a short form, this is a perfect collection for an afternoon of reading at the beach or on a plane for summer travelers. It also lends itself for those of us who catch a few minutes of reading time between daily chores, family chauffeuring duties, and appointments. I liked some of the tribute stories better than others and actually wondered about the inclusion of some, but overall I liked this book. It's been a while since I've read any of Frank's work and the personal anecdotes about her friendships has reignited my interest in her novels. While I would give certain stories a definite 5 rating (Mother and Child Reunion by Mary Alice Monroe and Low Country Stew by Cassandra King Conroy), I am only giving the whole anthology a 3.5. I received an ecopy of this title from Netgalley. All opinions are mine.

This unique collection of stories, poems and memories inspired by the life and literary career of Dorothea Benton Frank was both moving and poignant. As a long time fan of both Frank and most of her lowcountry writer colleagues that contributed to this, I was eager to read this tribute. In Reunion Beach, Frank’s colleagues, friends and family share stories of love and reunions and memories that capture Dottie’s ( as she was known to them) spirit, joy and humor as well as recognizing her literary legacy. A beautiful tribute to this talented author who is missed by many.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This wonderful compilation of stories, essays, poetry and recipes paying tribute to the life of well known author Dorothea Benton Frank was simply divine. As a long time fan of DBF I was simply engrossed with the love many people felt for her. A generous and fun loving southern lady who adored her readers. A life gone far to early. A unique and different approach in honoring what many thought was a truly genuine person. It has made me want to go back and read all her previous books. Thank you for the arc. #ReunionBeach #NetGalley

Some good stories and lots of memories of a woman who was a good friend to many. The stories of people meeting Dorothy were interesting but if you did not know her personally, they did not mean as much. A fun read but not really a great collection.

Reunion Beach
by Elin Hilderbrand, Adriana Trigiani, Patti Callahan Henry, Cassandra King, Nathalie Dupree, Marjory Wentworth, and Mary Alice Monroe.
Published April 27, 2021
In this warm and moving anthology, a group of bestselling authors and writers pay tribute to legendary, larger-than-life New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank and her literary legacy.
I have read the works of most of these authors and this book puts together a great tribute to one of the best.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing the digital ARC of this book. I loved it.

4 star

This is a lovely tribute to Dorothea Benton Frank. The collection of short stories and essays covers friendship, remembrances, love of the Lowcountry of South Carolina , poems and even recipes. Who could ask for a better tribute. Each different, but all a testament to their friendship and homage to Frank’s literary legacy.

This was a wonderful anthology that came about as a tribute to Dorothea Benton Frank after her untimely passing. Many great authors are included in this book and each contributed stories or poems inspired by DBF. The Lowcountry plays a starring role in many of the stories and you can feel the love that these authors all have for her. I felt like I got to know her a little bit better from all of the personal stories and memories that are included by each author. Dorothea Benton Frank was a wonderful author and will be missed by her friends and family, and also by her many readers.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

When I first heard about the anthology Reunion Beach: Stories Inspired by Dorothea Benton Frank, the first thing I noticed was that it includes “Summer Of ’79,” Elin Hilderbrand’s short story sequel to Summer of ’69. By the time I read that novel, the short story was no longer available, so I was thrilled to get the chance to read it. But Reunion Beach is so much more.

Reunion Beach is a tribute to Frank, the southern fiction author known as Dottie to all who knew her, who passed away after a short illness last year. The short stories, poems, essays, and recipes that are in the collection were contributed by such power hitters as Mary Alice Monroe, Patti Callahan Henry, and Adriana Trigiani, among others. All of them were close friends of Dottie’s and clearly loved her dearly.

At the time of her death, Dottie was working on a novel with the title Reunion Beach. All of the stories in the collection revolve around reunions – a mother meeting the daughter she gave up for adoption 40 years earlier, the second wife of a famous TV chef having to put up with the first wife during a shoot involving the family, and of course “Summer of ’79,” which didn’t so much sate my need for more of those characters as leave me wanting even more. Trigiani’s contribution is a unique and humorous one, involving letters from beyond the grave.

I guess here is where I admit I’ve never actually ready any of Dottie’s books. However, they sound charming, and I hope to rectify this soon, with a good novel set in the South Carolina Lowcountry that Dottie loved so much.

Whether you’ve read all of Dottie’s novels, or like me, none of them, Reunion Beach is an enjoyable collection that honored a woman who left her mark on everyone she met.

What a wonderful tribute to the beloved Dorthea Benton Frank. Family members and best friends collaborated to remember Dottie with short stories, poems, essays and letters in this wonderful anthology. Dottie's next book was to be titled Reunion Beach and this is such a wonderful way to remember her as the collaborators provided writings of different forms of reunions.

Reunion Beach is a compilation of short stories written by various authors as a tribute to Dorothea Benton Frank. Each story is a riveting read that makes you long for a lazy day spent on the beach with the sun shining down. I felt as though I really got to know Dorothea better through the writing in this book including her husband's eulogy and some of her own essays. Read and enjoy!

I have been waiting for this book so thanks for the NetGalley advanced copy. What a beautiful tribute to Dorothea Benton Frank. Her books were a welcomed start to a summer season and I will greatly miss that. I love that each author offered their own and unique tribute to this book. What special friends Dorothea had for them to pull together and complete this book and the cherry is that they used the title that she had for her upcoming book that sadly was not completed. I will put this on my “Must Read” shelf at the store.

Reunion Beach was originally going to be the title of Dorothea Benton Frank’s next new novel, inspired as she was by attending her fiftieth high school reunion in 2018. Shockingly, Dottie (as all her friends and fans knew her) was diagnosed with a rare blood disease around July 4th, 2019 and passed away September 9th, 2019. Dottie was beloved by just about everyone who knew her, fans, friends, professionals in the book and publishing world, and naturally, her family. So, her close author friends decided to complete that book in her honor with this beautiful anthology. This ‘Reunion Beach’ is a tribute to Dottie as her friends remember her with stories, poems, essays and even recipes.

Dottie was the ultimate Southern Hostess, having grown up in South Carolina, and threw the best holiday and birthday parties known anywhere. She was outgoing, funny, friendly, and always ready to lend a helping hand without even being asked, she just knew what, where and when. Carrie Fenton, her longtime Editor, states the facts in her Introduction to this book, but she also tells us what fun she and Dottie had working together. One item that I love and must note here, is two life rules Dottie had:
1. If you are ever choosing between two pairs of shoes, pick the red ones.
2. Remember to Sparkle.

The list of contributors is too long to name each one in this review so be sure to read the Summary. But a few you will recognize are Elin Hilderbrand, Mary Alice Moore, Natalie Dupree, Mary Norris, and Adriana Trigiani, etc., including her husband Peter, her daughter, Victoria, and son William. Each person includes a story, essay, letter, etc. as a tribute to Dottie, in their own heartfelt style.

My personal favorite is the section by author, Adriana Trigiani, and in particular, the “Postcards from Heaven” which she writes as if they were from her dear friend, Pat Conroy, fellow South Carolinian and author, who passed away on March 4th, 2016. As Adriana writes, ‘he kept in touch in his own style’ with sixteen letters or postcards from heaven. Let me tell you, these are perfection! They are funny, tearful, nostalgic, snarky, sad, and realistic. To me, they say it all from friend to friend. Adriana continues with imaging how Dottie would react to entering heaven and seeing Pat Conroy again and what their conversation would be like. You do not want to miss this.

There is so much more I want to tell you, but you must read this for yourself. Even if you never read a Dorothea Benton Frank book, (I bet you will now!) or have only read one, you will still want to read this lovely book. Did I mention recipes, for food and drinks! Natalie Dupree has written several cookbooks! Anyway, I highly recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley, William Morrow Books and All the Authors from Reunion Beach