Seasons of Sun & Rain [Hardcover]

Marjorie Dorner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 1999

Six women who were close friends in college meet once again at a secluded bed-and-breakfast to recapture those days and to recount the stories of their lives. Into this idyll comes a threat to their shared future. Set against the backdrop of forests and cascades, a rugged shoreline, and a small tourist town, the stories of the women evolve as each one turns her focus on the affliction that threatens the life of their best and brightest friend. Mickey already suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's disease. As she packs for the vacation, her bureau mirror is littered with Post-it notes reminding her to take shoes, a toothbrush, a brush, and to remember her raincoat. During the vacation, the drama of Mickey's illness is increased by the promise she seeks from the woman she trusts the most.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dealing with several too many hot-button topics, this slightly dated and certainly gender-stereotyped novel about six college friends reuniting for a week's retreat at a Midwestern lodge has the outworn feel of a 1970s story. Jan, Linda, Sharon, Mary, Peg and Micky, St. Augustine College Class of '68, leave their daily lives for a week to celebrate (and rue) their 50th birthdays. As they talk about midlife, menopause and men, sadness permeates their joy at being together: Micky, the vivacious leader of the crew, has developed early onset Alzheimer's and is slipping from a state of distracted forgetfulness toward the chasm of the full-blown disease. Terrified that she'll become a burden to her husband and children, Micky wants to commit suicideAand has given her closest friend, Jan, this week to decide whether she will help. The women also disclose their feelings about childlessness, gay sons, sexual dissatisfaction, philandering husbands, aging parents and several affairs, but these matters are overshadowed by the pressure of Micky's request. Intent on covering all these bases, Dorner skimps on characterization. The reader is told, for example, that the women have in common their fierce intelligence, but little in their conversation substantiates this claim. In her first novelistic attempt outside the mystery genre (Nightmare), Dorner seems to have grasped the formula for commercial women's fiction, but her attempt to tackle too many issues makes it difficult for the reader to identify with her characters.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Almost 30 years after their graduation, six women--close friends in the honors program at their small Wisconsin college--gather for a week at a B&B on the shore of Lake Superior, as five of them had done the previous summer. What makes this reunion different is that Micky Shaw, the best and the brightest of them, has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. On her good days, Micky is the quick-witted, compassionate, sometimes manipulative leader they knew; on her bad days, she doesn't know her own daughter's age or how to put on her socks. Jan, the closest to Micky of the group, suffers the greatest strain, as she assumes a caretaker role and agonizes over Micky's request that Jan assist her in committing suicide before her disease makes her a burden. The others at "Camp Men-O-Pause" are careful and caring with their friend as their innermost secrets are revealed and they reach a liberating level of openness. This warm, moving story gives a face to a devastating memory-eroding disease. Michele Leber

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 346 pages
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions; 1st edition (March 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571310274
• ISBN-13: 978-1571310279
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,927,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memory, June 20, 1999

By 

Jennifer M. Flatt - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seasons of Sun & Rain (Hardcover)

I was fascinated by the characters in this book and by the way in which it was written. While I was puzzled at first as to why so much of the discussion revolves around past events, I soon realized the beautiful interwoven commentaries this allowed Dorner to make about the connections between memory and self-definition as well as about what the loss of memory truly does mean. I finished the book in a 24-hour period, unwilling to put it down and wishing that I could follow these six women for just a bit longer through their lives.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story about good friends, July 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Seasons of Sun and Rain (Paperback)

I won this book in a drawing and had no idea the jewel I now had in my hand. Once I began this story I could not put it down because I became so entwined into the lives of these friends who became acquainted in college. This book mirrors the relationships so many of us have in our own lives---creating friendships, losing contact for a while, and rebonding later. These relationships are part of who we are and continue to be important to us. The beautiful friendships, acceptance of others, and how each of us perceive the "role" others have in our friendship are examined. I had never thought much about this until I read this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I wish...., January 24, 2002

By 

Barbara H. Doster (Charlotte, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seasons of Sun & Rain (Hardcover)

I wish that I could afford to send a copy of this book to all my friends.