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All the Single Ladies by Dorothea Benton Frank: book review



All the Single Ladies (2015) is set in Charleston in the American state of Georgia from June to October 2014. The narrator is 50+ year old Lisa St. Clair, divorced from her husband Mark, with a daughter, Marianne. Lisa’s specialty is geriatrics, and she works as a part-time nurse at the Palmetto House Assisted Living Facility – it’s like a hospice. 

Marianne – who lives in Colorado – surprises her mother by marrying ‘a druggie by an Elvis impersonator in Vegas.’ But Lisa’s closest friends, Carrie and Suzanne, are good for a laugh and to vent her frustrations.

Lisa’s favourite patient, Kathy Gordon Harper, dies of cancer at the age of 58. With no known relatives, the staff at Palmetto House, and especially Suzanne, who is the executor of Kathy’s estate, are tasked with sorting out her possessions. Kathy’s landlady, Wendy Murray, takes Kathy’s furniture, maintaining that it is hers. Lisa and Suzanne don’t have proof that it isn’t.

At Kathy’s funeral, the organist is Paul Gleicher, who was Kathy’s ex-partner. Paul, divorced with no children, loved Kathy and wanted to marry her. He didn’t know she was ill. Kathy told him she didn’t want a committed relationship and ended the relationship abruptly.

Paul Gleicher is also the architect of the Green House project. Paul and Lisa meet – Lisa knows that he was in love with Kathy, and this links them together. When sorting out Kathy’s estate, Lisa finds a marriage certificate and divorce papers. She had been married to David Inmon Harper. No one knew this. Paul didn’t know this either. Then in the library, in the book, Gone with the Wind, the librarian finds an envelope of Kathy’s – in it is a birth and death certificate. Kathy and David had a daughter who died at the age of two. David was implicated in the child’s death, but an article clipping in the envelope said that he was cleared of blame.

There was so much about Kathy Gordon Harper that staff at Palmetto House did not know. But now Carrie, Suzanne, and Lisa set out to find David Inmon Harper – mainly to settle the estate, but they have other questions too. Paul, in particular, wants to know more about Kathy’s life.

When they learn the truth, Carrie, Suzanne, Lisa, and Paul confront landlady Wendy Murray – but why would they do that, just for two pieces of furniture?


The novel is light and easy to read. It is comical with a bit of intrigue, mystery and love. The relationship between the three main characters – Carrie, Suzanne, and Lisa - is quite well described, but some other characters are not deeply developed. Readers can whizz through the novel is no time at all, because there is not a lot to think about.
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