The Richest Season

Sometimes you have to leave your life behind in order to finally find yourself. So it is for Joanna Harrison: perfect wife and mother of twenty-five years. Joanna finds herself at a crossroads in her life - after more than a dozen moves over the span of a twenty-five year marriage, she is lonely, bored, and tired of playing the role of a corporate wife.

Her children are grown and gone, her husband is more married to his job than he is to her, and now they're about to pack up once more. Joanna just can't take any more. Panicked at the thought of having to start all over again, she commits the first irresponsible act of her life. She runs away to Pawleys Island, South Carolina, a place she has been to just once.

She finds a job as a live-in show more companion to Grace Finelli, a widow who has come to the island to fulfill a girlhood dream. Together the two women embark on the most difficult journey of their lives: Joanna struggling for independence, roots, and a future of her own, while her family tugs at her from afar; and Grace, choosing to live the remainder of her life for herself alone, knowing she may never see her children again.

Entwined is Paul Harrison's story as he loses his wife, his job, and in effect, everything that defines him as a man. He takes off on his own journey out west, searching for the answers to all that has gone wrong in his life. One thing remains constant: he wants his wife back. Joanna, however, is moving further away from her old life as she joins a group dedicated to rescuing endangered loggerhead turtles, led by a charismatic fisherman unlike anyone she's ever met.

This is Ms. McFadden's debut novel - a stunning story of three very different people, each changing their lives at a time when such transformations are usually long over. In my opinion, this book was delightful. I found myself quickly engrossed in the lives and various predicaments of the characters, rooting for them all to come through their own difficulties relatively unscathed. I give this book an A+! and look forward to reading Ms. McFadden's next book sometime in the future. show less

I LOVED this book!! Reading the outside cover of the advance copy where it described how she had to self-publish first, I wondered who did not appreciate how good this book was---I would have grabbed it as soon as I opened to the first page. Mcfadden gives wonderful descriptions of her characters and their conflicting and inter-related problems and it is all so very believable. I kept wondering how she was going to reach some sort of conclusion with all of these people but it all fits together like a wonderful jig saw puzzle---and I was so pleased when it all fit together to make such a worthwhile reading experience. The reading was happiness!! I just hope she is enthused enough to write another book--quickly!

I had never heard of this author nuntil I reviewed SO HAPPY TOGETHER for Hyperion publishers. It was so good, that I ordered another one of her books - THE RICHEST SEASON. I enjoy the way McFadden deals with older adult lives. In this book, Paul and Joanna have been married 25 years, the kids are gone, and there is nothing left between them. He has devoted his life to a career and she to the children. One day, Joanna packs up and leaves. Paul thinks she will come home, but then his company is downsized and he is unemployed. The book tracks their separate lives, both of which move in interesting directions. Joanna becomes the caretaker for a terminally ill woman, and Paul takes up cabinet making.
The book did drag in places, and I do show more dislike stories that people are wealthy and never really worry about money like the rest of us in real life. I was a little disappointed in the ending also - just a little too predictable. I will be looking for more books by this author, she is one of the few who understands that life is not ending at 50 but just starting. show less

"That's the thing about writin', Harley said, leaning back in his chair. "It's never just a job. You make people think, you sway their feelin's. It's a gift. And a power." page 179 of The Richest Season (McFadden).
I do believe this sums up how I felt about your book. What a wonderful journey through 2 women's lives into frightening territory...obtaining a meaningful life of your own and coming to the end of your life.

Joanna is a middle aged woman with grown children and a corporate husband who has seldom had time to be home for her or the kids. She is lonely and searching for something so she abandons all she knows to find it.

Grace is an older woman who knows she is terminally ill and does not know how to handle it or what to expect.
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The two women's journey's become intertwined and they ultimately help one another to find their way.

I thought this book was wonderful. I related from page one to Joanna's pain and loneliness and enjoyed how Ms McFadden gave us a glimpse into her heart and the process of finding her own way. Being in the medical field and having had the opportunity to share in many patients dying days, I found Grace believable and authentic.

This book makes you reassess what's important and how to be true to yourself. Beautifully written...can't wait to see what comes next from Ms McFadden. Bravo! show less

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, show more 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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The Richest Season is a story of self-discovery. It charts the journeys of Joanna, a woman who runs from her role as a corporate wife; Paul, her estranged husband; and Grace, the older woman Joanna cares for after leaving her husband. I thought this book was well-written but very predictable. Each character does exactly what you would expect them to over the course of their journeys in this feel-good novel. I could see the resulting transformations coming a mile away. The Richest Season is a quaint and well-worn story. If you are looking for a light beach read, go for it. Otherwise, leave this one on the shelf.

On the face of it, Maryann McFadden’s tale of Joanna Harrison, a disenfranchised corporate wife, is a familiar one. However, in Ms McFadden’s hands the story transcends that of an unhappy wife.

After her husband Paul surprises her at a supposed corporate dinner party that is actually a celebration of his latest promotion, one he had not told her about. Joanna becomes depressed and restive. Her children are grown, one out of college the other a Junior. The thought of moving yet again and finding her way in another new town and that Paul will be traveling even more, cause her to reevaluate her life. She realizes that she has spent the majority of her married life as a ‘single parent’ or alone. Impulsively she packs a few bags and show more drives to Pawleys Island, South Carolina, a place she fell in love with years ago.

Paul is surprised and angry when he discovers Joanna gone, leaving only a note and a voice mail message. He is ill, harassed with work and travel. He rationalizes his behavior by telling himself that everything he’s done has been for his family and Joanna is ungrateful and selfish to pull this vanishing act on him. He is even more surprised and angry when she refuses to return with him after he tracks her down.
Joanna has found a job as a companion for an elderly woman. She finds herself at sea, emotions coming and going:fear, anger, resentment, sorrow and guilt. As one day follows another, then one week another and finally months; Joanna begins to sort herself out . Her relationship with Grace, her employer, is fraught with frustration, the woman is demanding and distant, needy and cold. She needs help, yet seems to resent Joanna’s presence in her home.

Joanna begins to understand that she learned early to make herself invisible, to go along to get along. She learns to leave past behaviors and responses behind. She finds happiness inside herself.

Ms. McFadden’s prose is wonderfully evocative, her descriptions of Pawleys Island and of Grace’s artistic reawakening are beautiful. I look forward to reading more of her work. show less