Bring the Rain

Sixty-three-year-old Dart Sommers—a professor of psychology and the founder of The Raindrop Institute (TRI), a think tank dedicated to eradicating poverty—is intelligent, resourceful, and ambitious. She has always considered her brain to be the best part of her. When she finds herself reacting inappropriately to situations at work and forgetting pieces of her day, she realizes that her mind is betraying her. Before she gets confirmation from a doctor, she knows her diagnosis: she has frontotemporal dementia (FTD). And whatever symptoms she’s experiencing now, they’re only going to get worse.

As she struggles with the reality of her illness, Dart finds herself falling for her friend Ash—who is her boss and the still-grieving widower whose wife died of FTD. As Dart’s health deteriorates and she faces conflict at work with a colleague who wants to take over TRI, she pushes Ash away, determined to spare him from more heartache. But he refuses to give up on her—and as events unfold, Dart begins to suspect that love, not decisions based on logic, might change everything.

Author: JoAnn Franklin
Publication Date: May 21, 2019

Categories: Fiction, Spring 2019, Women’s Fiction

Description
About the Author

Description

“Bring the Rain approaches an unsettling subject from a forthright perspective, but with a sense of more humanistic hope than inevitable tragedy.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Franklin gently weaves psychosocial, emotional, and neurological threads into a work of beauty, giving us a touching exploration of love. . . . A beautiful, touching novel. ”
—Barbara Sapienza, author of Anchor Out

“Bring the Rain is one of twelve profound books about hope and its power.”
—Fupping

“Bring the Rain is a thought-provoking, deeply moving story about what happens to someone who is faced with the deterioration of their greatest asset.”
—Foreword Reviews

“I thought the love story was sweet, but what I will walk away remembering is Dart’s determination. I applaud anyone that seeks out their passion and admire their dedication to see it through. She embodies what it means to not give up, not matter what.”
—Reading Between the Pages

“Dart’s story is beautiful, tragic, and yet optimistic.”
—Books, Advice & Everything Nice

“Bring the Rain stirred emotions in me, and really made me consider facts I had never thought of before. I was inspired by Dart’s strength and her insistence that she remain in control as long as possible. I greatly admired her independence and her drive. I was then humbled by her acceptance and her allowing of love into her life, no matter the strings she may perceive to be attached. It is the most difficult thing, to give ourselves to someone else and put our hearts in their safekeeping . . . we can never be sure that things will work out. But I guess that’s where faith and hope come in, and that’s where we shine the most . . . when we take chances.”
—A Belle in a Bookshop

About the Author

JoAnn Franklin grew up on an Illinois farm but now lives in North Carolina, five miles from the Atlantic Ocean. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother who dabbles in painting, loves to read, and enjoys learning new things. A former journalist and educator, she’s fascinated with decision-making and ethics and explores those facets within her books.