A Season of Perfect Happiness, Maribeth Fischer
A Season of Perfect Happiness, Maribeth Fischer
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A Season of Perfect Happiness

Author: Maribeth Fischer

Narrator: Beth Hicks

Unabridged: 10 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 08/20/2024


Synopsis

A propulsive novel that fundamentally questions what makes a “good” mother, with a heartrending portrayal of one woman’s quest to find her voice.

Ten years after an unspeakable tragedy caused Claire to flee her hometown in Delaware, she finally feels content. She has a quiet, tidy life in Wisconsin, a place she picked at random for its shape on a map. Her careful existence centers on a simple plan: keep her social circle small and keep the past a secret.

But when she meets Erik—a lighthearted theater nerd who gives Claire more of a chance than she’s given herself in a long time—that plan seems increasingly impossible, especially after she finds herself emotionally entangled not only with Erik, but with his ex-wife, Annabelle; their three young children; and a small set of friends, the kind she’d always wanted to have around her. Life after the accident can be full of joy, Claire realizes—going on a date to see a thousand-pound pig at the state fair, giggling over obscure inside jokes with friends at a music gig, making smoothies while the kids wear their infamous cooking hats. Being a partner, a best friend, a mother.

But when a person from her past arrives, Claire’s worst mistake threatens her new life, and the deep friendships she’s made hang in the balance. If Claire chooses to share the parts of herself she has kept locked away for so long, will the family she has built still recognize her—and have a place for her? Or will everything she has spent the last decade working toward fall apart?

About The Author

Maribeth Fischer is the founder and executive director of the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild. She has received three Delaware Division of the Arts fellowships and two Pushcart Prizes for her essays. Her two previous books, The Language of Good-bye and The Life You Longed For, have been sold in six foreign countries. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Meagan✨ on May 21, 2024

ARC REVIEW Publishing Date: August 20, 2024 My Rating: 4 Stars “You don’t expect the good memories to hurt more than the terrible ones, but they do” Brief Summary- Claire has to start her life over again in Wisconsin. Carrying guilt and some heavy baggage she meets Erik and starts to fall foe him, she......more

Goodreads review by Karren on July 10, 2024

Claire left her hometown of Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, she’s made a fresh start living in Wisconsin and a random place she picked from a map because it’s the shape of a mitten. Claire's a loner, she works as a graphic designer, makes collages, goes to the gym and runs and she doesn’t have any frien......more

Goodreads review by Jill on June 06, 2024

A Season of Perfect Happiness is a book just bursting with potential that reels you in from the very first lines: If you could live an entire season of your life in perfect happiness, knowing that once the season ended, you’d remember nothing at all of that time, would you still take the chance? An......more

Goodreads review by Desiree on September 19, 2024

THE GOOD: Beautiful. Heart-wrenching. Hopeful. Devastating. Growth, and longing, and love, and betrayal. Healing. Forgiveness. New beginnings. A future bright as a cracked mirror. THE BAD: - The cover. While I get how it illustrates our leading lady Claire’s own Season of Perfect Happiness, it’s doesn’......more

Goodreads review by Lovemybooks2020 Cindy Ward on October 31, 2024

Such a beautiful story. Having been from Wisconsin I could related with so many things in the story. This was a wonderful, character driven story about love, loss and friendship.......more


Quotes

“Fisher shines a much needed light on the psychological issues that women face during and after childbirth…This wonderful book truly is A Season of Perfect Happiness.”
Woman Around Town

“Exquisite. A novel so harrowing, immersive, and beautiful, you don't so much read it as live it—and, unquestionably, love it. Never has a book better earned the word 'perfect' in its title.”
—Liam Callanan, nationally bestselling author of When in Rome

“In her indelible novel, Maribeth Fischer wrestles with how to find grace in an unforgiving world. A Season of Perfect Happiness is about love, family, and the hope we owe ourselves. It is complex and compelling, but it is also simply a beautiful book.”
—Lauren Grodstein, author of Read with Jenna pick We Must Not Think of Ourselves

“Maribeth Fischer is a novelist’s novelist. A Season of Perfect Happiness has every element: characters so real you swear they are in your life, a setting that feels like a place you've always known and loved, and a plot so engrossing that it takes over your every thought. I was in awe of her craft on each page, and Maribeth shows vulnerability and humanity amid struggle and pain in such life-affirming and hopeful ways. I couldn’t return to this book quickly enough each time, and I will think about Claire and her valiant journey for years to come.”
Ethan Joella, author of A Little Hope and The Same Bright Stars

“Maribeth Fischer’s A Season of Perfect Happiness is a gripping and emotional novel that shines an illuminating light on the complexities of motherhood. In this unflinching look at the cost of being a “good” mother, Fischer writes with astonishing sensitivity about Claire, who is struggling to dare for happiness after having done something in her past that even she finds unforgivable. I was captivated by this beautiful novel, which will stay with me for a long time.”
—Karen Dukess, author of The Last Book Party

“Maribeth Fischer deftly probes the fallibility of humans—mothers, specifically—in this utterly honest and lyrically written novel. A Season of Perfect Happiness takes the reader through seasons of every emotion and delivers, ultimately, a graceful message of forgiveness and hope. Fischer writes with both beauty and heart.”
—Karen Winn, author of Our Little World