“When the grief of losing [her] becomes too much, the sunsets over the ocean remind me of how her smile brightened my cloudy thoughts, and how her beauty burst forth when she smiled. In that last burst of light before dark, I can be with her again.”

I was graciously gifted a copy of Bring the Rain (set to be published on May 22) and asked to give my opinion once I had finished reading the book. I was really intrigued by the synopsis of the story and delighted to have the opportunity to read a book prior to its publicity date. 

Sixty-three-year-old Dart Sommers is a professor of psychology and the founder of the Raindrop Institute (TRI), a group that is dedicated to ending poverty. Dart is incredibly intelligent and determined to make a change in the world as we know it. She has always considered her brain to be her best attribute. When she finds herself reacting inappropriately to situations at work and forgetting pieces of her day, she realizes that her mind is starting to betray her. Before she even has a chance to meet with a doctor, she knows what her diagnosis is: she has frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The symptoms that she is experiencing now are only going to get worse. While she is struggling with the reality of what is going to happen to her, she finds that she is falling for her dear friend, Ash, her boss and a widower whose wife had FTD. Dart is determined to push Ash away, to spare him more heartache. But, he refuses to give up on her—and as events unfold, Dart begins to suspect that love might change everything. 

I have always been fascinated by the human brain. Why do we do the things that we do? How does a person become who they are? What happens to the brain when a sickness like FTD takes over? Unfortunately, I have been able to see first-hand the devastating effects of dementia.

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. While reading along as Dart Sommers expressed her tenacious beliefs on how to eradicate poverty, I found myself wishing that I could sit in on one of her classes and learn from her. This book is full of truly fascinating ideas and questions that would make for a perfect book club pick. 

Also, I should mention that while what was happening to Dart was on an incredibly complex level, the author, JoAnn Franklin did a remarkable job making it understandable for a reader who is not well-versed in science. 

Thank you to She Writes Press for sending me a copy of this book. Also, thank you to JoAnn Franklin for writing Dart’s story and allowing me to have the opportunity to learn more about the very real future that individuals diagnosed with FTD face. 

Bring the Rain by JoAnn Franklin is set to be published on May 22, 2019.