The Land of Mango Sunsets

By: Dorothea Benton Frank

Narrated by: Nicole Poole

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dorothea Benton Frank is one of America's most insightful writers, weaving highly addictive tales of the conundrums of life with hilarity and heat. Now, in The Land of Mango Sunsets, Frank gives us one woman's journey toward a hard-won truth: Life isn't always what it appears to be, and the sooner you realize that pride won't keep you warm at night, the happier you will be. Oh, and one other thing - a truly joyous life comes with a generous heart.

Meet Miriam Elizabeth Swanson, in a full-blown snit, buoyed by a fabulous cast who run the gamut from insufferable to wonderful. First is the arrival of Liz Harper, Miriam's tenant from Birmingham, who sets a new cycle in motion. Then her other tenant, Kevin, a stalwart companion with more style than Cary Grant, shakes Miriam out of her fog to see which battles are worth the fight. Next, her estranged son announces he's marrying a Jamaican woman. And what about her ex-husband, Charles, and that sordid lingerie model of his? Well, Harry, her African gray parrot, has plenty of opinions. Finally, you'll laugh and cry when she meets a man named Harrison who changes her into a gal named Mellie.

Miriam spins out from the revolving door of her postured life as a Manhattan quasi-socialite while she thirsts - no, starves for recognition. How did she become what she hates the most, and what does she endure to realize it? And where are the answers? It takes a few spins and dips and one spectacular fall for Miriam to get her head on straight. Then, in a whoosh, she's off to the enchanted and mysterious land of Sullivans Island, deep in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

Told straight from the heart in Frank's vivid, highly entertaining style, The Land of Mango Sunsets just might be her finest work to date. If you decide to listen to this book, don't make plans to do anything else for a while.

©2009 Dorothea Benton Frank (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Great Escape

I loved this book! Elin Hilderbrand and This author, Dorothea Bentonville Frank, routinely hit it out of the ballpark with their writing. When I need a good road trip book, one that will make me glad I have to be in a car, driving hundreds of miles, I turn to them. This book took me through hundreds of miles of west Texas dry land and I loved it. The best part was watching and experiencing Miriam grow as a human being. I had a huge distaste for her at the start, as we are meant to. But I grew to like her and then to love her..... savoring her life's victories with her. I think some authors, like Hilderbrand and Frank, have the ability to not just tell a story but make your life better after reading it. Miriam...Mellie's story is no exception.
Only now, safe at home again, I just out down all the ingredients to make tomato pie. Grin!!
Congratulations Dorothea Benton Frank on another wonderful book! Thank you!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Loved it!

My favorite by Frank by far! Beautiful transformation and the power of a mother’s love!

such a good listen

loved all the quirky characters! Perfect summer read, did not want to stop listening! Narrator was amazing!

great listen<br />

good book to get lost it. makes one remember that family is the most important thing

Beautiful story

This is a book of starting over and opening your heart and mind to a new life one that you would never imagined

POSSIBLY GOOD STORY WITH WORK

Had I not read the next in her series, I would have bet DBF had lost her touch for good. As a southern senior, I was insulted by the main character, Miriam (Mellie). This is not 1939 with the south fighting back against Eleanor Roosevelt. Who is this backward bigott? Ugh!

Adorably Southern!

I loved the characters, setting and story. Very well written adding laughter, tears and a little suspense.