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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a deeply satisfying read, June 19, 2006
Rebeccasreads recommends THE RICHEST SEASON as an engrossing read written from three points of view -- Joanna, Grace & Paul - as each struggles with loss, death, love & their sense of worth.
Joanna has been the perfect corporate wife & mother whose nest not only is empty -- her daughter is living in Colorado & her son is away at college in Montana -- her husband, Paul, has just become a VP of his company & is going to have to relocate, again. She's lost count of the houses they've lived in.
Out running one morning in the New Jersey estate, it's all become too much. Joanna dreads the thought of moving, she misses her children & she's furious that the man she married has vanished.
As she runs the thought keeps coming up -- just run away from it all & go find a life. & so she does, packing some stuff into her Jeep & heading south to a place remembered from one of her family's vacation years ago -- an island on the South Carolina coast.
There she meets Grace, who lives in a house built on the beach, who needs a live-in assistant & a six month commitment.
When Paul finally locates his errant wife, their reunion goes awry as the fear & resentment overwhelms them. He goes back to the only constant in his life -- his work -- & when that is suddenly pulled out from under his feet, he's cast adrift & doesn't know what to do, so he buys a van & heads west to visit his daughter & son, & maybe find out what to do next.
THE RICHEST REASON is a richly told coming of age story that will give reading groups much to think about.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A cut above, June 16, 2008
I don't know if it was the cover, but I wasn't expecting this to be as well written or developed as it is. Expecting this might be a light weight beach read, I was pleasantly surprised to find very well developed characters, excellent descriptive imagery, and wonderfully intertwined stories of the three main characters. The Richest Season is a cut above most popular fiction, yet it's also very readable and entertaining. This is a terrific balance of serious writing and an engrossing story. Highly recommended!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An extremely moving story, August 7, 2008
Joanna has decided before that she is tired of being a corporate wife, but after her husband receives yet another promotion requiring yet another move, she has had enough and sets off to find a life of her own. She arrives in Pawleys Island confused and in need of guidance. What she finds is an old woman named Grace with some difficulties of her own and a small community that is destined to change the way Joanna thinks. Meanwhile, her husband, Paul, only realizes after his life collapses that some serious changes need to be made. In this way, two lives are rebuilt.
I really, really enjoyed this book. I loved the atmosphere of it, particularly the feel of the island. I was walking along the sand with Joanna, looking out Grace's window, and smelling the salty sea air. McFadden creates a great sense of atmosphere here that I really appreciated. I was consistently immersed in the story and found myself thinking about it even when I hadn't been reading for a while.
I found it particularly amusing that the NJ town mentioned in the book is my hometown, where my parents live. Typically, the author had the attitude of this place down, but I couldn't reconcile any of the physical details with what she said, so I think she made up the developments and the things like the annual outdoor market, unless I have just been missing out on them for the past 15 years. Not only that, but one of the local bookstore owners where I used to buy my books for school is quoted on the back of my ARC copy. I'm astounded that this little town in the middle of nowhere has now appeared in a book that I have read!
As for the plot, I was never bored and I was moved very, very often. This one is certainly an emotional read. I loved watching Paul and Joanna find themselves, and Grace's story affected me deeply. I think we can see a little of ourselves in each character - we are all sometimes lost and confused, we all have to figure out who we are (sooner or later) in order to love ourselves and those around us, and almost everyone has known and probably loved someone whose situation is very similar to Grace's. Some readers are there themselves, which is heartbreaking. I felt connected and sympathetic to all three of the main characters and I wanted desperately for their wishes to come true.
This is an extremely touching story. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who was ready to embrace such a heart-rending and simultaneously heart-warming book.
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