Seasons of the Heart (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Cynthia Freeman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A youthful marriage frees Ann Pollock from an unhappy home life. While her mother-in-law doesn't initially welcome the shop girl her son loves, the thrifty bride soon proves her worth by supporting her in-laws after Phillip Coulter volunteers to serve in World War II. Crushed by the tortures of a Japanese prison camp, Phillip returns to civilian life to find his once-proud mother incapacitated by a stroke and his dreams of a bright future reduced to an ill-paying job as a law clerk. The birth of a daughter, Eva, brings joy to the Coulters, but as money worries mount, Ann takes a job in a real estate office despite her husband's objections. With each successful deal, the marriage becomes more hollow, and Ann is devastated when Phillip deserts her. Though a new love assuages her pain, that relationship disintegrates after a botched abortion leaves Eva sterile. The Coulters than reunite, and just when things start to work out, Phillip suffers a stroke, followed by Allzheimer's disease. The first third of the book offers a poignant look at an earlier era, but the constant catastrophes and labored solutions make the trials of Job seem minor. Freeman is the author of Illusions of Love. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild featured alternate.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

For more than 25 years Ann Coulter devotes her life to her husband, Phillip, and their daughter Evie. Even when she finds a man she truly loves, she refuses to get a divorce because Phillip and Evie trust and need her. Loyalty and integrity seem to win in the end, however, as Ann, freed by Phillip's death, places a call to her lover. Although Freeman's writing is often saccharine, readers familiar with her other works ( Portraits, Come Pour the Wine ) will feel right at home with the Coulters. Expect some demand, since this is a book club selection. Literary Guild alternate. Barbara E. Kemp, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 576 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr; 1 edition (August 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896217272
• ISBN-13: 978-0896217270
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,844,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars marriage is difficult, September 20, 2009

By 

Diana "Diana L DeHerrera" (Fresno, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seasons of the Heart (Paperback)

When Ann marries Phillip in pre-World War II San Francisco, both love being in love. Their marriage is difficult, however, because parental enthusiasm is noticeably cool. The war claims Phillip for its duration, which he spends as a cruelly tortured prisoner of war. Left to tend his aging parents, Ann cannot stifle her resourceful energy when he returns to take charge.

By chance and her own considerable charm, she succeeds in buying and selling real estate in the city's boom years. Meanwhile, Phillip's legal career sputters along, undistinguished and underpaid. Both Ann and Phillip pour most of their confused and powerful love into their daughter Evie. For her sake, they stay together for twenty-five years, long after the spark of honest caring has been extinguished.

Abruptly the house of cards collapses when Ann and Phillip take lovers. Evie cannot tolerate the dissolution of her family and has a breakdown complicated by a botched abortion attempt. To help her, Ann and Phillip pretend to reconcile, a ruse that works wonders for Evie. Soon she is fully recovered and in the adoring arms of her true sweetheart.

Freeman, a best-selling writer, relies on the elemental appeal of human passions, needs, and conflicts. In this her eighth novel, set in Burma, San Francisco, and New York, the drama turns not on extraordinary events but on the emotional pain that her characters learn to live with and, occasionally, to conquer. Every Freeman fan will be delighted to join Ann as she approaches her fiftieth birthday, battle-scarred but hopeful that love will again bloom.