Season of Life

Season of Life

YA-adult fiction
Some of the toughest periods in anyone's life are those of
uncertainty, of limbo. Say you lose your old job and don't know what
your new one will be like. Or you have to move to a new place. The
space between the old life and the new unknown can be quite the
difficult time.
Genesis, protagonist of Diane Les Becquet's Season of Ice, is in
that kind of limbo. Her father doesn't return from mending a dock.
His truck is where he left it. A full fledged search and rescue
starts, only to become a search and recover when his boat is found
empty. Even that has to be suspended when Moosehead Lake freezes over.
Genesis' mom took off when she was very young. Her dad is the
only one in the family she feels close to. Her fragile stepmother is
a source of need rather than comfort. In fact Genesis must drop out
of high school to work full time so they and the very young twins can
survive financially. This puts distance between her and long time
best friend Annie.
As if that isn't bad enough, there are the rumors. Not everyone
is convinced that her father is dead. Some suspect that he faked his
own demise to start a new life with another woman.
The genesis of Season of Ice came about following a tragedy in
Les Becquet's life. Her cousin disappeared on a fishing trip. His
boat was found; his body wasn't. Not long after that a man vanished
from a cross country skiing trip. Search and rescue efforts had to be
put off until spring because of winter weather. Fortunately for us,
what ifs germinated in her writer's mind. What if someone went
missing on a lake that suddenly froze over? What would life be like
for the bereft family? How would their small town handle the tragedy?
On a personal note, my life is almost totally in limbo. Will I be
reelected to school board Tuesday or will my eight year reign come to
an end? What will board be like when Veazie is a stand alone town
instead of part of a regional school unit? Will I be able to grab
hold of some magic and get into grad school with a teaching
assistantship in 2014? When Leah and I get our first book ready will
it sell? Will I survive when the kids grow up and move out? It's
just about all up in the air.
A great big shout out goes out to my good friends whom I certainly
need in this time of uncertainty.
Julia Emily Hathaway


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