Books like Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank
Dorothea Benton Frank’s new novel brings us back to the Lowcountry of South Carolina, this time to Sullivan’s Island where beekeeping islander Holly McNee Kensen lives quietly among her hives and the local library. Holly’s life is upended when her mother, whom she calls the “Queen Bee,” continues to torment her, and when her sister Leslie, who had left the island after a failed marriage, returns. Together the sisters find their attention pulled toward the next door family: the widowed father, Archie, and his two young sons. Tension rises as Archie’s affection for his son’s former teacher, an “ice queen” woman, becomes a source of conflict for Holly’s domestic world. The story explores family bonds, the complexity of adult relationships, and the charm of island life.
First publish date: 2019
Genre: Family & Domestic Fiction/Parenthood & Family Fiction
Authors: Dorothea Benton Frank
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 (0 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.
Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier
for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.
Books similar to Queen Bee (18 similar books)
The beloved classic of American literature, Little Women, narrates the adventures of four March sisters as they grow up during the Civil War era.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In 1964 South Carolina, Lily Owens, grieving her mother’s death, seeks refuge with a fierce stand‑in mother and a trio of black beekeeping sisters who open her to the secret world of bees, honey, and healing.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper follows a teenage girl who was born to serve as a perfect bone‑marrow donor for her sister’s leukemia, exploring family bonds, ethics, and identity as the siblings confront the life‑saving choices that define them.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In Edith Wharton’s classic, Lily Bart, a beautiful and intelligent young woman devoted to luxury, struggles to navigate New York’s strict social hierarchy and moral expectations, ultimately confronting the limits of her independence.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In North Carolina’s sleepy town of Bascom, the Waverley sisters guard a mystical apple tree that shapes their destinies. When the estranged sister returns with a daughter, family secrets, culinary magic, and ancestral gifts force the trio to confront their shared legacy and find home again.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A harrowing tale of family, secrets and the aftermath of a crime that fractured a small Iowa town, as two sisters confront their shared past when their estranged sibling is released from prison.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A heartbreaking, Pacific‑Northwest summer reunites estranged sisters Meghann, a divorce attorney, and Claire, who falls in love, as they confront past betrayals and discover the healing power of family.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Merry Lancaster is engaged to handsome Edward Willoughby and travels with him to his country estate to meet his family. She starts to learn though that his beautiful glamorous mother does not look so kindly on the young couple’s plan to wed.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When a buried skeleton under a peach tree uncovers hidden family secrets, two women from rival South Carolina lineages must confront the past to protect their future.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
An emotional journey that follows Caretta Rutledge as she returns to her Lowcountry roots to restore a family beach house, become a turtle volunteer, and heal the bond with her mother.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A poignant exploration of the complexities of family and friendship on a remote island.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Kate, a newly widowed mother, returns to Lost Lake in Georgia—a sleepy summer resort—to heal with her eccentric daughter Devin, hoping the place’s forgotten magic and their shared past can revive the cottage community and their hearts.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A contemplative portrait of two sisters growing from the 1950s to today, charting their quests to find purpose and authenticity amid America’s social shifts.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Pat Conroy’s Beach Music weaves a tale of family, friendship, and the loss of a loved one, following a father in Rome who tracks a vanished Vietnam protester, confronting the echoes of his wife’s suicide and a daughter’s growing independence.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Set on South Carolina's Sullivan’s Island, the novel follows Susan Hayes as she confronts a troubled marriage, a resentful daughter and buried family secrets, ultimately returning to the beach house where her sister awaits.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Ex‑soldier Logan Thibault, haunted by Iraq memories, seeks the woman in a photograph he found in his pack. He embarks on a journey that uncovers a startling truth while Beth, the woman in the picture, battles her own turmoil.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
The Summerhouse by Jennifer WeinerHave a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!