A Season of Perfect Happiness by Maribeth Fischer

 A Season of Perfect Happiness by Maribeth Fischer coming out August 20 will gut its readers as it tells the story of Claire who left her home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, 10 years after an illness and an accident for which she punishes herself. She starts over in Wisconsin, where she has lived a quiet life all to herself until she met Erik, a project manager at Ten Chimneys, the once summer retreat for theatre actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.

Even from Erik, Claire keeps her past a secret, until she realizes that to move forward with this new relationship, she must risk revealing what happened to her back in Delaware. After telling Erik her secrets, her truth is more than he can handle at first, but given some time, Erik realizes the truth of what her doctor told her: “…what you did is not who you are.”

Soon Claire is swept up in Erik’s life where he has three children, an ex-wife, and a set of longtime pals. Recognizing that her life can once again be joyful, she chances becoming a wife, a step-mother, and a friend.

Claire’s former life catches up with her when her once-best friend undertakes an opportunity to be a director of a play at Ten Chimneys. Not realizing that people in Claire’s circle of friends are unaware of what happened in Delaware, the former friend reveals part of the story, the details of which get back to Erik’s ex-wife, who blows up Claire’s new life.

Maribeth Fischer skillfully keeps the tension on as she puts off revealing what actually happened in Claire’s past until one-quarter of the way into the story. She keeps readers invested in the story to the very end.

This is Fischer’s third novel after The Language of Goodbye and The Life You Longed For. In addition, Fischer is an essay writer having received two Pushcart Prizes for “Stillborn” in The Iowa Review  and “The Fiction Writer” in The Yale Review. She lives in Lewes, Delaware