Plantation Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  One - Richard

  Two - Miss Lavinia Would Like to Have a Word with You

  Three - Make No Misteak!

  Four - Going to the Chapel

  Five - Skirmish in Paradise

  Six - Taking the Good with the Bad

  Seven - Eric

  Eight - Becoming Mom

  Nine - “Ain’t No Way, Babe . . .”

  Ten - Wake Up and Smell the Opium

  Eleven - Miss Lavinia Says Her Piece

  Twelve - “Planet Lavinia—Retrograde”

  Thirteen - “Hush Up and Deal!”

  Fourteen - Cocktail Time

  Fifteen - Dinner Is Served

  Sixteen - Millie’s Magic

  Seventeen - Gone Fishing

  Eighteen - On Dry Land

  Nineteen - Have a Nice Trip

  Twenty - Should Be Getting Better, but It Keeps Getting Worse

  Twenty-one - Dr. Blues

  Twenty-two - Family Laundry

  Twenty-three - I Knew It Would Come to This

  Twenty-four - Ace in the Hole

  Twenty-five - On My Shield

  Twenty-six - Daddy

  Twenty-seven - The Merry Widow Speaks

  Twenty-eight - Daddy’s Gone

  Twenty-nine - Rescue Me

  Thirty - Back to School

  Thirty-one - Voodoo 101

  Thirty-two - Square One

  Thirty-three - Breathe

  Thirty-four - Tripped Up

  Thirty-five - Family Jewels

  Thirty-six - Holy Moly

  Thirty-seven - True Colors

  Thirty-eight - Family Stew

  Thirty-nine - Mr. M.D.

  Forty - Stardust

  Forty-one - Through Thick and Through Thin

  Forty-two - Skin Deep

  Forty-three - A Doctor in the House

  Forty-four - Lavinia Says, Y’all Deal with It

  Forty-five - This Is for Real

  Forty-six - Rolling! Rolling! Rolling Down the River!

  Forty-seven - The Second Time Around

  Forty-eight - Free at Last

  Forty-nine - Details

  Fifty - Day Clear

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  PRAISE FOR DOROTHEA BENTON FRANK’S

  Sullivan’s Island

  “The setting and the characters are blazingly authentic…Frank evokes the eccentric Hamilton family and their feisty Gullah housekeeper with originality and conviction; Susan herself—smart, sarcastic, funny and endearingly flawed—makes a lively and memorable narrator. Thanks to these scrappily compelling portraits, this is a rich read.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  “Dorothea Frank and I share the exact same literary territory—Sullivan’s Island is hilarious and wise, an up-to-the-minute report on what it is like to be alive and female in the South Carolina Lowcountry today. It contains the funniest sex scene I have ever encountered.”—Pat Conroy

  “Dottie Frank’s take on the South Carolina Lowcountry is tough, tender, achingly real, and very, very funny. Sullivan’s Island roars with life.”—Anne Rivers Siddons

  “In Sullivan’s Island, southern womanhood has found a new voice, and it is outrageous, hilarious, relentless and impossible to ignore.”—John Berendt

  “A satisfying treat…Dorothea Benton Frank ventures into the territory of another three-named writer, Anne Rivers Siddons.”

  —Orlando Sentinel

  “Frank’s wit, her fast pacing and the details of Lowcountry life and place give the novel a solid grounding…The book’s greatest pleasure lies in the delightfully realized Susan, who has all the pluck, charm and gutsy good humor anyone might wish for…Sullivan’s Island is really a treat. It’s fun, fast reading…a good writer with a fictional creation who—as they say in the movie biz—has legs.” —The State (Columbia, SC)

  “One heck of a beach book…Frank keeps you reading compulsively.” —The Charlotte Observer

  “Those who enjoy Pat Conroy or Anne Rivers Siddons will not be disappointed.” —Library Journal

  “Authentic characters and setting…a very moving story of family, love and place.” —Knoxville News-Sentinel

  “A novel that should be on every ‘beach reading’ list this summer.” —The Greenville News (Greenville, SC)

  “A guaranteed reading pleasure.”

  —News Chief (Winter Haven, FL)

  “Rarely in contemporary fiction have we encountered a heroine so real, so sympathetic, so at once courageous and outrageous… Sullivan’s Island is the kind of novel readers are always asking for—and, usually these days, can’t find.”

  —Putnam County Courier (Carmel, NY)

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the

  product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

  to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is

  entirely coincidental.

  A Berkley Book

  Published by The Berkley Publishing Group

  A division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  375 Hudson Street

  New York, New York 10014

  Copyright © 2001 by Dorothea Benton Frank

  All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any

  form without permission. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book

  via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher

  is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic

  editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted

  materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. BERKLEY and the

  “B” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Jove mass market edition / July 2001

  Berkley trade paperback edition / March 2004

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Frank, Dorothea Benton.

  Plantation : a Lowcountry tale / Dorothea Benton Frank.

  p. cm.

  eISBN : 978-1-440-67805-9

  1. Eccentrics and eccentricities—Fiction. 2. Women—South Carolina—

  Fiction. 3. Mothers and daughters—Fiction. 4. Plantation life—Fiction.

  5. South Carolina—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3556.R3338P57 2003

  813’6—dc22

  2003057847

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  FOR PETER

  Acknowledgments

  The list of people to remember who helped to bring this story to fruition is wonderfully long and I say wonderfully because at each turn in the road there was a new hand extended to me in generous support and friendship.

  It was my brother-in-law, Junius Scott Bagnal Jr., who hauled me up and down the rivers of the ACE Basin and regaled me with more information than I could have researched in a lifetime. His superior humor and genuine desire to help never waned. I am now in trouble with my sister, Lynn, for not putting her up front in this paragraph. But, hey, anybody who knows my family even a smidgen knows that Lynn Bagnal’s love and support—and not just for me—are legendary. Thank you both from the bottom of my gizzards.

  For my nephew-in-law (can it be that he’s my nephew?), David Oliver of Savannah, the doctor who risked his life, and those of his sons, Steven and Ben, to teach me to shoot skeet and quail with a bona fide loaded gun. I’m happy to report that no clay and no birds died by my hand. You boys can stop laughing now, ok
ay? And to Vicki, his wife and the loveliest of southern women, don’t you think it’s time we said we were sisters? Thank you to all the Olivers for their hospitality and affection.

  Special thanks to Michael Hickman of Jacksonboro for the rescue and the plantation tour. Tall Pines would still be looking for a home without you having trusted the veracity of that lunatic woman you allowed into your truck. And to all the folks of Jacksonboro, you live in one of the most beautiful places on this earth.

  A huge dose of thanks for Roger Pinckney from Daufuskie Island, SC. Mr. Pinckney’s book Blue Roots was an invaluable source and a fascinating read. Anyone interested in the Gullah culture is just a hack if they don’t have a copy of this book on their shelf.

  To Natalie Daise, many thanks for your correspondence and help on spirituals. Charlotte O. Gordon, my e-mail buddy, is the one responsible for the spelling of yanh. She gracefully advised me that the spelling was better than ’eah. So, yanh it is, Charlotte! I agree.

  Billy and Pat Benton of Mt. Pleasant, SC, Ted and Joanne Benson of Winchester, MA, Jennifer and Michael Benton of Irving, TX, all deserve a parade in their honor. Yes, these are my three brothers and their wives, and they’ve been stellar in their unflinching support. Stacy Hamburger of the Isle of Palms, SC, has a place in my heart forever. I was hoping for a miracle and bingo! I found Stacy, the dream weaver. Greg Marrs, wherever you are, our guest room awaits you and Samantha anytime.

  A woman couldn’t ask for better friends than Anthony Stith, Larry Dodds, Brigitte Miklaszewski, Shannon Gibbons, Linda Lauren, Dona Hay, Patsy Thomas, Larry Harbin, Pete Dewey, Cheryl and Max Lenker—love y’all!—Fran Pritchard, Joy Casale, Joe Cupolo, Keith and Chris Stewart, Sparky Witte, Chip Clarkin, and Charlie Moore. My book group—Cherry Provost most especially, for, once again, introducing me around and for believing in me. And to Adrian and Jerry Shelby for their laughter and dependable good wishes.

  I bow and scrape to Robert and Susan Rosen of Charleston for their unbelievable generosity and friendship—I love y’all forever! To Catherine Fry of Columbia for her luminous persona, sparkling wisdom, and guest room—thanks, honeychile. And, to Mr. Orangeburg, Dr. Mickey Hay—here it is, bubba, stand-alone proof that you are appreciated by this old island girl for all the wonderful things you continue to do.

  Okay. The big guns. Pat and Sandra Conroy—Peter has commissioned a sculptor to do a witty and tasteful statue of y’all for our front yard. Hey, thanks forever. To Bret Lott for his friendship, to Anne Rivers Siddons once again and always, and finally to Josephine Humphreys and to Elinor Lipman for letting me know I was alive. Special thanks to Marjory Wentworth for the use of her extraordinary poetry and her friendship.

  Now, the Scud missiles—Leslie Gelbman. Norman Lidofsky. Liz Perl. You changed my whole world and helped me in so many ways which defy words. How can I ever repay your profound faith? Just know that not a day passes without me thinking of y’all and mentally sending you my love and respect. Thank you all. And a special note to all the field reps of Berkley Publishing for their dedication and loyalty. Y’all are the almighty guardian angels of the publishing industry.

  To Hillary Schupf and Matthew Rich. I never want to launch a book without either of you. Between the oyster roast and frequent discovery of my unknown cousins, I gave y’all something fun to remember. But, y’all gave me constant thrills. And, Jamie Coulter, if you’re out there, thanks again for the spectacular bash!

  And to Joni Friedman, my art director, for her superlative vision. Joni, when I first saw my book on the shelves, I wept. You saw what I felt. Thank you.

  Speaking of good fortune? How about my fabulous and incredible editor, Gail Fortune? The woman’s a genius! Gail pulled me through the dark days of the first draft of this book and never left my side. With her astute eye she gave me more critical advice than Millie could. Gail, thank you over and over for your excellent judgment, your soulful character, and for your remarkable saintly patience. Simply stated, it wouldn’t be worth it without you. This book makes you an honorary Geechee Girl.

  I owe so much to my agent, Amy Berkower, for teaching me the ropes of a new universe and for understanding everything. Thanks, Amy. I hope someday I prove to be worthy of your wing. And, to my cousin, Judy Blanchard Linder, for reading this manuscript and not once complaining but always graciously pointing out the goobers. To Mia and Christian Tudose and Kevin Sherry for their acceptance and compassion.

  Finally, I offer sincere gratitude to my family, Peter, Victoria, and William. Better than anyone, you know my heart. As you witness these changes in my life, know that I am so profoundly grateful to you for giving me the freedom it takes to open each door. I rejoice in you and I love you more each day. I am always deeply proud of you and constantly moved by your beautiful spirits in myriad ways. You have always been and will always be the most magnificent part of my life.

  RIVER

  The river is a woman who is never idle.

  Into her feathering water

  fall petals and bones

  of earth’s shed skins.

  While all around her edges

  men are carving altars,

  the river gathers flotsam,

  branches of time and clouds

  loosening the robes of their reflections.

  Her dress is decoupage—

  yellow clustering leaves

  ashes, paper, tin and dung.

  Wine dark honey for the world,

  sweet blood of seeping magma

  pulsing above the carbon starred

  sediment. Striped with settled skulls,

  wing and leaf spine: the river

  is an open-minded graveyard.

  Listen to the music

  of sunlight spreading

  inside her crystal cells.

  Magnet, clock, cradle

  for the wind; the river holds a cup

  filling with miles of rain.

  But when the river sleeps

  her celestial children

  break the sticks of gravity;

  grab fistfuls of fish

  scented amber clotted with diamonds,

  ferns and petalling clouds,

  adorn bracelets of woven rain,

  rise with islands of sweet grass

  and stars strung to their backs

  to wander over the scarred surface

  of the earth, like their mothers

  simply searching for the sea.

  —MARJORY WENTWORTH

  History of ownership of Tall Pines Plantation Located on the Edisto River in the ACE Basin of South Carolina:

  Original home built on 5,000 acres as a gift by William Oliver Kent on the occasion of his daughter Elizabeth Bootle Kent’s marriage to Henry Wright Heyward IV in the year of 1855.

  Elizabeth Bootle Kent wife of Henry Wright Heyward IV

  (1838-1911) (1830-1914)

  Tall Pines then passed into the hands of their only daughter:

  Olivia Kent Heyward wife of David Patrick Logan

  (1860-1935) (1855-1935)

  With whom she gave birth to three children:Male child (1880), died in childbirth

  Cassandra Anne (1881-1956), married and moved to Philadelphia

  Amelia Heyward Logan (1885-1962),

  wife of Thomas Payne Reardon (1860-1947)

  Whose hands then inherited the Plantation and with whom she had three children:

  Isabelle Marie (1915-1990),

  never married, became a foreign missionary

  Thomas Payne Reardon Jr. (1921-1994),

  who practiced medicine in Savannah, GA

  Lavinia Ann Boswell (1/29/28),

  wife of James Nevil Wimbley II (deceased)

  Who then inherited the Plantation and with whom she had two children:

  Caroline Boswell Wimbley

  (3/22/61)

  wife of

  Richard Case Levine, M.D.—

  parents of:

  Eric Boswell Levine (b. 1988)

  James Nevil Wimbley II
I

  (7/28/63)

  husband of

  Frances Mae Litchfield—

  parents of:

  Amelia (b. 1987)

  Isabelle (b. 1989)

  Caroline (b. 1991)

  Chloe (b. 2000)

  (Dr. Levine’s first marriage, to Lois Baum, produced a son, Harry, and ended in divorce.)

  As seen in the Charleston Post and Courier, Obituaries column, August 10, 2000.

  Photo of Miss Lavinia in full hunting regalia.

  Photo of Miss Lavinia in evening dress entering a party down her staircase wearing “The Pearls.”

  Lavinia Boswell Wimbley, widow of James Nevil Wimbley Sr., died at her home yesterday. She was seventy-two years old. “Miss Lavinia,” as she was known, was educated at Ashley Hall and The College of Charleston. She later earned a Master’s Degree at the University of South Carolina.

  “Miss Lavinia” was an accomplished sportswoman in bird hunting and the shooting of trap and sporting clays. She spoke frequently on the subjects of American painting, the history of rice cultivation, gardens in America, and bourbon whiskey.

  A renowned hostess and an avid card player, she is survived by her companions, Raoul Estevez, 31, Peter Greer, 75, a son, James Nevil Wimbley III, 37, a daughter, Caroline Wimbley Levine, 39, and five grandchildren. Visitors may call at the Bagnal Funeral home in Walterboro tonight from six to nine. The funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at Tall Pines Plantation. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Gibbs Art Museum, the Nature Conservancy, or the Betty Ford Center.