The Richest Season

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.

Joanna is a lonely housewife. Her husband is always traveling for his job, and her children are grown and have moved away. Suddenly she realizes that no one needs her anymore and would they even miss her if she left? She does just that, and takes off for Pawley's Island, South Carolina. While there, Joanna spends most of her time walking the beach and thinking over her life. She meets Grace, an elderly lady who needs a live in caretaker. Joanna agrees to take the job. She doesn't realize their relationship will come to be so much more than caretaker and patient. Grace is an elderly lady hiding from the world with secrets she refuses to tell. She lost her husband Frank a few years ago to cancer and wants nothing more to do than hide from her past. Until Joanna no one knew about her dreams of wanting to paint. It was an ambition, as a young mother she put it aside to take care of her family. As Grace and Joanna live each day regretting past mistakes, they forge ahead making new friends. Both learn to let go of the past and hold onto the unforeseeable future. They grow closer and learn to forgive themselves and their decisions, past and present. Paul is Joanna's husband; he tries to make her come home, but soon realizes that she's made a new life for herself. He never listened to her and her wants. All he thought about was making more money. Now that he's lost his job he has to learn to live again, alone. He tries to build a bridge to connect him to Joanna, but he fails. Paul soon realizes that he loves working in the yard, and working with wood. Can he make a living doing these things or does having a real job make him more of a man? When it comes time to sell the house he's lost. He tries one last time to persuade Joanna to come home. Does it work? THE RICHEST SEASON is one of the best books I have ever read. The emotional rollercoaster ride it took me on was exhausting, but the highs were breathtaking. I almost didn't read THE RICHEST SEASON because I wasn't sure if I could handle the memories that came back to me with each turn of the page, but I forged ahead. I soon learned that I couldn't put the book down, and when I did, it called out to me. This is a book that you will not want to miss. Maryann McFadden has a bestseller on her hands. Courtsey of Romance Junkies

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!

Reviewed by Cathy Yanda for Reader Views (6/06) As you follow Joanna, a lonely corporate wife who strikes out on her own, you will meet interesting people along the way. You will forget they are only characters in this finely written first novel by Maryann McFadden. When Joanna's newly promoted husband, Paul, is going to have to relocate once again, she flees to a place she remembers fondly, Pawley's Island, South Carolina. There she finds Grace, a beautiful woman near the end of her life. In Grace, you will find yourself as well as your mother, grandmother or favorite aunt. Upon the death of her husband and after being diagnosed with cancer herself, Grace moved to Pawley's Island to spend the last months of her life. When Joanna moves in as a caretaker, the story takes on an even deeper storyline as Joanna struggles with Grace's dying as she comes to love her as only a daughter and dear friend can. At the same time, Joanna finds a welcome diversion in Hank, a retired boat owner. Paul, Joanna's husband, shows up at Pawley's Island only to rebuffed when both of their resentments and angers surface. Upon returning to his corporate life, Paul is fired when his company is swallowed up by another firm. Left searching for the meaning of his life, he travels and spends time with their grown children, discovers his passions and becomes comfortable with who he is for the first time. When Paul and Joanna reunite after Grace's death, their relationship has matured and they become friends for the first time. This book is not a light read. It will grab your emotions from the beginning and you will not be the same when you are done. It is a story of love, loss, compassion, empathy and much more. You will laugh and cry, but more importantly, you will come to know these characters as your friends and family. "The Richest Season" is a book to be read by anyone taking care of their aging parents or whose children have recently left home. It is a tale of transititioning and the message each reader finds will be their own.

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.