Author Description

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, capturing her unforgettable spirit, joy, and humor in stories of reunions and love. When Dorothea Benton Frank died in the fall of 2019, her friends in the literary community were bereft. Her loss was a hole in their lives that could not be filled. Elin Hilderbrand dedicated her most recent novel 28 Summers to Dottie, and other writers paid tribute to her in blogs and on social media. Yet they wanted to do more. Inspired by the title Dorothea Benton Frank planned for her next book—Reunion Beach—these close friends and colleagues channeled their creativity, admiration, and grief into stories and poems that celebrate this remarkable woman and her abiding love for the lush Lowcountry of her native South Carolina—a land of beauty, history, charm, and gullah magic she so brilliantly brought to life in her acclaimed novels. In the poignant and atmospheric “Summer of ’79,” the beloved characters from Elin Hilderbrand’s Summer of ’69 reunite on Nantucket ten years later for a bittersweet family reunion that holds life-changing consequences for them all. A crisis of the heart reunites five best friends on idyllic Oak Island, where the memories they share and the truths they reveal offer unexpected insights and opportunities in Patti Callahan Henry’s engaging “The Bridesmaids.” Mary Alice Monroe weaves past and present in an emotionally powerful and uplifting story of love lost and found, about a birth mother who at long last meets the daughter she gave up in “Mother and Child Reunion.” Dorothea Benton Frank and Pat Conroy meet for a heavenly meal amid the divine beauty of the Lowcountry they shared and loved in Adriana Trigiani’s delightful and poignant story—a tribute to two dear friends and bestselling Southern legends. A television special commem