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Seasons of Sun and Rain

by Marjorie Dorner

June 2001

Synopsis

"In the summer of Seasons of Sun and Rain, six women who have been close friends since they were in college together in the sixties gather for a reunion at a B&B they call 'Camp Men-O-Pause'. Set against the backdrop of forests and cascades, a rugged shoreline, and a boisterous tourist town, the stories of the women evolve as each focuses on the affliction that threatens the life of their best and brightest friend, Micky, who has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Marjorie Dorner delivers an honest portrayal, laced with humor, of women turning fifty--how we were, how we are, and how we change." (Publisher)

Reviews

"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 1970's 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 suicide--and 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."
"Marjorie Dorner's latest will be cherished by all who seek strength and empowerment as they face the future." (Mary Ann Grossmann, 'St. Paul Pioneer Press')
"A moving story with a vivid portrayal of a devastating disease." (Library Journal)

Book Club Rating and Comments

If you or your book club has read this book and would like to share your comments, please email us at upthecreekbc@yahoo.com.

Other Books by Marjorie Dorner

'Blood Kin'
'Family Closets'
'Freeze Frame'
'Nightmare'
'Winter Roads, Summer Fields'