"If I could only read one writer from now until the end of my life, it
would be Dorothea Benton Frank." --Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times
bestselling author of The Identicals
The Lowcountry of South Carolina is where By Invitation Only begins at
a barbecue engagement party thrown by Diane English Stiftel, her brother
Floyd, and her parents to celebrate her son's engagement. On this
gorgeous, magical night, the bride's father, Alejandro Cambria, a
wealthy power broker whose unbelievably successful career in private
equity made him one of Chicago's celebrated elite, discovers the limits
and possibilities of cell phone range. While the mother of the bride,
Susan Kennedy Cambria, who dabbles in the world of public relations and
believes herself deserving of every square inch of her
multimillion-dollar penthouse and imaginary carrara marble pedestal,
learns about moonshine and dangerous liaisons.
Soon By Invitation Only zooms to Chicago, where the unraveling
accelerates. Nearly a thousand miles away from her comfortable, familiar
world, Diane is the antithesis of the bright lights and
super-sophisticated guests attending her son Fred's second engagement
party. Why a second party? Maybe it had been assumed that the first one
wouldn't be up to snuff? Fred is marrying Shelby Cambria, also an only
child. The Cambrias' dearest wish is for their daughter to be happy. If
Shelby wants to marry Frederick, aka Fred, they will not stand in her
way--although Susan does hope her friends won't think her daughter is
marrying more than a few degrees beneath her socially. At the same time,
Diane worries that her son will be lost to her forever.
By Invitation Only is a tale of two families, one struggling to do
well, one well to do, and one young couple--the privileged daughter of
Chicago's crème de la crème and the son of hard -working Southern peach
farmers.
Dorothea Benton Frank offers a funny, sharp, and deeply empathetic novel
of two very different worlds--of limousines and pickup trucks, caviars
and pigs, skyscrapers and ocean spray--filled with a delightful cast of
characters who all have something to hide and a lot to learn. A
difference in legal opinions, a headlong dive from grace, and an abrupt
twist will reveal the truth of who they are and demonstrate, when it
truly counts, what kind of grit they have. Are they living the life they
want, what regrets do they hold, and how would they remake their lives
if they were given the invitation to do so?
By Invitation Only is classic Dorothea Benton Frank--a mesmerizing
Lowcountry Tale that roars with spirit, humor, and truth, and forces us
to reconsider our notions of what it means to be a Have or a Have Not.
