My Magnolia Summer: A Novel

Victoria Benton Frank

Jun 2023 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

“[B]y writing My Magnolia Summer, a novel of low country food, family drama, and just the right amount of romance, Victoria Benton Frank shows that she is the rightful heir to the crown of summertime storytellers. Her mother would be so proud.” — Ann Patchett 

Escape to the South Carolina Lowcountry, where family bonds and hidden secrets run deep. In this gripping tale of self-discovery, Victoria Benton Frank introduces us to Maggie, struggling to find her place in the world when she receives a phone call bringing her back to her hometown of Sullivan's Island.

In New York City winter never seems to loosen its hold and for South Carolina transplant Maggie (born Magnolia after the fairest summer flower) the balmy beach weather of April back home on Sullivan’s Island feels like a distant memory. Until a phone call from her sister, Violet, changes everything.

Gran, the treasured matriarch, has fallen into a coma after a car accident caused by Maggie’s troubled mother, Lily. But once Maggie returns, she finds that her hometown of Sullivan’s Island holds even more secrets. The Magic Lantern, the restaurant owned and run by generations of women in her family, is now rudderless, and her sister seems headed for a savage breakup.

Once she is between the marsh grasses and dunes of South Carolina, she feels herself changing like the Atlantic tides, rediscovering the roots she left behind, and a new and different version of herself—one who can see how a minor crash into the back of a very handsome farmer’s truck may become fortunate. Or perhaps it’s even… fate?

When the three generations of South Carolina women join forces—the family pillar Gran, troubled Lily, impulsive Violet, and redoubtable Maggie—anything is possible. 

With stunning descriptions of the magic of the Lowcountry, this novel will transport you to a world of treasured family traditions and unexpected twists of fate.

Ratings and reviews

I have loved novels by Dorothea Benton Frank and was so happy to see her daughter, Victoria, write a novel, too. She did not fail to tickle my fancy. In My Magnolia Summer, a New York chef returns to her family on Sullivan’s Island when her beloved grandmother is in a car accident and in the hospital. Maggie (Magnolia) is shocked to learn her mother, Lily, was not only in the car but has also drastically changed the family restaurant. Maggie has to cope with her alcoholic mother and her younger sister, Violet, as she struggles with the accident, her work in New York, the family restaurant and so much more. Life seems to be throwing one curveball after another to this family. Great book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I feel in love with Charleston all over again. Victoria does her Momma proud.

Loved this book! Your Mom would be proud!

About the author

Victoria Benton Frank was born in New York City, raised in Montclair, New Jersey, but considers herself to have dual residency in the Lowcountry. She is a graduate of the College of Charleston and the French Culinary Institute. Victoria worked in restaurants in New York before returning to Charleston, South Carolina, which she considers home, with her husband, two kids, and a giant mutt. When she isn’t writing, she is reading, cooking, or chasing her children.