The Driest Season

This lovely coming-of-age story is set during WWII but the writing is so fresh and real that I frequently forgot that it wasn't set current day. Cielle and her family are struggling in the aftermath of her father's suicide and their farm and family unity are in jeopardy. The story was engaging and honest and just a delight to read. I look forward to reading more of Kenny's work.

Reminded me of Elizabeth Stroud writing. . Beautifully written, enjoyed the relationships between the family members. Will recommend

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC. Oh this was a beautiful read. A coming of age story set in Wisconsin’s farmland during WW2. The author is a visual story teller bringing the outdoors to life in color, sounds and texture. The characters were wonderful. A story about grief, beautiful family relationships and moving on and forward. I just loved it.

A short but realistic read about the pain of loss and coming of age. To understand dying is difficult and more so if you are fifteen and find your much loved father hanging from the barn rafters. This book deals with loss, depression , first loves, war , the casualties of war, grief , friendships and communities. The author’s descriptions of characters, their feelings and the landscape is well done.

I so enjoyed this book set in Wisconsin during World War II. Fifteen year old Cielle is wise beyond her years and the death of her father has her questioning the secrets that are being kept, and her own place in the world. With wonderful character development, I was instantly a party to Cielle's thoughts and feelings. This is Meghan Kenny's debut, and what a wonderful debut it is. This book will be available in mid February. My thanks to Netgalley and W.W. Norton and Company for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cielle Jacobson, sixteen years old, lived on a one hundred acre farm in Boaz, Wisconsin. The farm, owned and settled in 1863 by her Norwegian great-grandfather, was no longer Jacobson land. During the depression, old Mr. Olsen bought land from struggling farmers and leased it back to them. In summer 1943, Cielle came home from school to find her father hanging from a beam in the barn, an apparent suicide. If she were to tell anyone, her life would instantly change. She went to a neighboring farm but told no one about her discovery.

The discovery of Lee Jacobson's body and "tractor accident" as his cause of death was a crafted cover up of lies and deception. If Mr. Olsen knew that the death wasn't accidental, it would contractually void any buy-back agreement for the farm.

Many Boaz residents were unable or unwilling to address their personal issues and created smoke screens and omissions. Cielle, however, wanted to understand why her father left. She wasn't ready for this sudden change. What do you do when loved ones leave?

Cielle experienced tumultuous change in 1943, uncertainty for sure, but her strength of character was slowly developing. Life as she knew it no longer existed. Did life cycles create positive experiences as well? "The Driest Season" by Meghan Kenny is a heartfelt, coming of age novel I highly recommend.

Thank you W.W. Norton & Company and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Driest Season".

Just finished The Driest Season – AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL BOOK!!!! This is a lovely short gem of a book. Ended too early, so much more to tell. This is one of those books that catches you in the first few paragraphs and you don’t want to stop reading, it is a short powerful story condensed to about 200 pages.
The story is told by Cielle, a fifteen year girl that finds her father in the barn who had hung himself as she comes home from school. It is a gut wrenching story of how she tries to find why he would have done this and how she deals with the loss and so many other changes taking place in her life. The book revolves around her family and the consequences of suicide or an accidental death and the ramifications of ownership of their land. I love the way the story really wrapped everything up in a nice neat package in the last few chapters.
I so enjoyed this book, the author has a way of describing the scenery and the locations so well that you can picture the farm, the barn, Ginger, her bicycle, and the neighbor’s houses. I felt so many emotions during the entire read, and related to every character. I could even picture the train station scenes with Brodie and then with Helen in her white dress as they pulled away. I was raised on a farm and this book took me back many many years where I could picture my 15th summer, she nailed it..... the feelings and emotions were spot on.
I highly recommend this read, several hours well spent. This book will stick with me for a long, long time.
I thank Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book for my unbiased review.