THE RICHEST SEASON

THE RICHEST SEASON by Maryann McFadden

From the book jacket:

After more than a dozen moves in twenty-five years of marriage, Joanna Harrison is lonely and tired of being a corporate wife.  Her children are grown and gone, her husband is more married to his job than to her, and now they're about to pack up once more.  Panicked at the thought of having to start all over again, Joanna commits the first irresponsible act of her life.  She runs away to Pawleys Island, South Carolina, a place she's been to just once.

She finds a job as a live-in 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, as her family tugs at her from afar; and Grace, choosing to live the remainder of her life for herself alone, knowing she ma never see her children again.

Entwined is Paul Harrison's story as he loses his wife, his job, and 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.

THE RICHEST SEASON is a stunning debut about three very different people, all changing their lives when such transformations are usually long over.  It will resonate with any woman who's ever fantasized about leaving home to find herself.

This book, judging by the above description, sounded like it should be a winner - it wasn't.  First of all, I didn't understand the title at all.  It didn't fit the story.  I didn't like most of the characters.  I thought Joanna and Grace were very cold, unfeeling and extremely selfish.  I read nothing that indicated any warmth or closeness between them, yet by the end of the book the reader was supposed to understand Joanna's deep feelings for Grace.

The only character I had any "feeling" for was Paul.  He wasn't a perfect husband or father, but he really got the shaft from Joanna.  He was the only one who made any positive changes in his life.

I really wanted to like this book, but it failed to life up to expectations.