Dorothea Benton Frank, Best-Selling Lowcountry Author, Has Died

Dorothea “Dottie” Benton Frank, beloved best-selling author of 20 novels set in the Charleston area, died Monday evening. She was 67.

Her daughter Victoria Frank told The Post and Courier that her mother passed following a “brief but intense battle” with myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, a type of cancer related to leukemia.

Dottie’s first novel, the semi-autobiographical Sullivan’s Island, was published in 2000 and debuted at number nine on The New York Times best-seller list. Up until her death, she published about one title a year, and was renowned for her ability to create compelling, imaginative story lines. Each of Dottie’s books are based in or around where she grew up: on South Carolina’s barrier islands. And they are all, quite literally, beach reads.

“It’s simple,” she once told The Post and Courier. “I write about where I want to be. If I’m not there (in the Lowcountry), I want to be there.”

Dottie’s latest book, Queen Bee, was published in April and reached number two on The New York Times bestseller list—her highest ever.

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Our hearts are with Dottie’s family, friends, and legion of devoted fans.