In THE SWEET SEASON, James B. Farmer tells the story of a girls’ softball team in the town of Centerville. Soliciting donations for their softball team on a spring day, a group of five girls comes across a widowed lawyer whom they come to know as Coach. Over the next few months, much to the whole town’s surprise, Coach helps lead the girls to the state championship. Under his unorthodox but kind presence, the girls learn to become a team both on the field and off.
THE SWEET SEASON is divided into four clear and sharp narrative arcs, spread across four seasons from different time periods of the main characters’ lives. Farmer beautifully ties in atmospheric details with the emotional core of each narrative, with spring being the story of the girls’ transformation. Summer is when they fully realize their potential, fall is when they collectively work towards building a future, and winter lets us look ahead 18 years into the girls’ futures (completing their transformations). The prose is rich with the sensorial descriptions of all four seasons, as is clear in the following examples of summer ("I immediately got smacked in the face with a heavy blanket of warm, wet mid-August air") and winter (“A bright sun tried to warm my face, but the bitter cold drove me to lower my head and charge”).
The novel engages with homophobia, islamophobia, and religious manipulations with ethical sensitivity. A sequence with someone's Islamic last rites is factually accurate and treated with respect. The characters are referenced mainly through nicknames, which evolve as the story progresses. The chemistry between the teammates is portrayed through banter and inside jokes, making their bond believable.
Meanwhile, Farmer successfully creates detailed, informed renditions of the softball games and coaching drills. The state championship match unfolds through a slow, clear arc that earns the impact of its climax. The novel does suffer from inconsistent pacing, though, becoming dense in places where there is too much softball terminology. THE SWEET SEASON also prolongs some emotional sequences for dramatic effect, such as the dedication day meeting and a memorial service in the chapter "Celebrating a life."
That said, the prose, characters, and sports should keep the target audience engaged from start to finish.
James B. Farmer's THE SWEET SEASON delivers an emotionally resonant coming-of-age story through immersive atmospheric descriptions, thoroughly sketched characters, and a dynamic depiction of softball.
~ Maria Zafar for IndieReader