Bitter Sweet (1990) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Maggie (Pearson) Stearn: Recent widow, 40, Home Ec teacher for 15 years. Moved, after marriage, to Seattle, Washington.
• Grief Group friends: Diane, 36, husband died while clamming on Whidbey Island; Nelda 62, widowed; Cliff, newest of group, late 50s, wife died in car crash; Claire, mother of 16-yr-old daughter who was killed on a motorcycle; Tammi, youngest of group, 20, unmarried and pregnant and lost both parents; attempted suicide.
• Dr. Feldstein: Leader of the Grief Group.
• Katy Stearn: Maggie's daughter, who is leaving for Northwestern University in Chicago to major in Child Psychology.
• Brookie: Glenda Holbrook Kerschener, Maggie's friend since first grade. They got into trouble together, always. Now a mother of seven children, married to a farmer and still living in Fish Creek, their home town in Wisconsin.
• Eric Severson: Maggie's boyfriend in high school, went to Gibraltar High with her, now 40 and married, runs a charter fishing boat in Fish Creek, WI.
• Phillipi Stearn: Maggie's husband of 18 years, killed in plane crash when he went on a gambling junket a year ago.
• Mike Severson: Eric's brother and partner in business, older by two years, father to two boys - Jerry Joe and Nicholas, 16 and 18; married to Barbara.
• Ma Severson: Anna, Eric and Mike's mother; also has two other children who live away. She is a crusty older woman who had a soft spot for Maggie.
• Vera Pearson: Maggie's mother, an unlikable, opinionated woman, always cold and finding fault; kept a very neat home.
• Roy Pearson: A warm, loving, tolerant and gentle man. Worked in a general store cutting meats and making sandwiches.
• Nancy McAfee: Eric's 38-year-old wife, a beautiful and desirable woman who did not want children of their marriage. Loved her job as a traveling saleswoman for a cosmetic line.
• Tani: Another friend from high school days, part of the "clan", now living in Green Bay, WI and the grayest of them all.
• Lisa: A friend from high school days, part of the "clan", the homecoming queen; always and still the prettiest of the girls, now living in Atlanta..
• "Fish": Carolyn Fisher, one of Maggie's high school friends, now living in Brussels, WI, and a grandmother.
• Gene Kerschener: Brookie's husband, a quiet man, a farmer.
• The Kerschener children (7): Paul (oldest, in college); Todd (19), Erica 16, Danny, Julie, Chrissy, Justin (2).
• Althea Munne: Realtor for Homestead Realty, a former teacher in Fish Creek; sold Maggie the old Harding House.
• Bert and Joe Lavitsky: Brothers who contracted to do the remodeling at the Harding House.
• Loretta McConnell: A conservative and brilliant woman on the town's planning board; member of the historical society.
• Mark Brodie: President of the Chamber of Commerce in Fish Creek, single, around 40, divorced; an overbearing man.
• Dutch Winklier: A man who sometimes worked in town with Eric, often fished.
• Dr. Neil Lange: In Ephraim, WI, the doctor who handled many of Eric's family's needs.
• Lavyrie Spencer: Add a description of this character.
• Suzanne
• Anna
• Tammi
• Mary Deare
• Lallyrie Spencer
• Grandma
• Margaret
• Todd
• Glenda
• Nelda
• Mrs. Steam
• Barbara
• Jerry Joe
• Gary
• Deitz
• Grandpa
• Diane
• Arnie
• Ruth
• Easley
• Chrissy
• Lallyr Le Spencer
• Layyrie Spencer

Quotes edit see section history

• “While you're sitting there upset about having another baby, I'm sitting here envying the hell out of you because you're going to. I know how damned old you are because I'm only two years behind you and my time's running out.”

  Eric to his brother Mike.

• “Sometimes when a thing is right, you simply must have it.”

  Maggie to Eric when buying furniture.

• “--- You shouldn't evaluate love based on the returns it brings you”

  Maggie to Brookie regarding Vera's actions.

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Maggie's home, Seattle: Not far from the Bear Creek Country Club, on Lucken Lane. A ranch house of burnt orange brick and weathered cedar, with a garage and a redwood deck. The rooms included Katy's room , a kitchen, Maggie's bedroom, a bathroom.
• Eric's home with Nancy: In Fish Creek, Wisconsin. A prairie-style home built around 1919, with their bedroom upstairs and a hall with stairs down to a kitchen, Nancy's small office, and a living room. There was a 2-car garage.
• Fish Creek: Where Nancy and Eric lived; they'd moved back from Chicago six years earlier.
• Gills Rock: Where Eric worked, 19 miles from Fish Creek. The business included two boats for hire: the Mary Deare and The Dove. Anna Severson lived here and ran the boat business from her home/office. It's where Eric grew up.
• Brookie's home: In Fish Creek, a limestone structure with a clapboard addition . The veranda had been glassed in and was part of the house. There was an immense vegetable garden down the east hill behind the house along with an immense clothesline.
• Bailey's Harbor Yacht Club: Where the reception for the wedding of Lisa's brother Gary was held, broad, low-slung building with large windows. A 3-piece jazz combo played, a lovely seafood buffet was served.
• Harding House: The house Maggie bought, lived in and restored to be a Bed and Breakfast inn. in Fish Creek on Cottage Row. Queen Anne style cottage with verandas; the front two verandas overlooked the lake. Five bedrooms were possible. but on the second floor was a special room with a belvedere, which Maggie used as the Honeymoon room. Also, in the parlor the floor was of maple wood and done in a parquet pattern and a magnificent staircase in the entry led to the second floor. A tennis court was tarred over for parking space and an arbor seat was moved onto the dock. There was an apartment above the garage, as well. Maggie had the house painted in the original Victorian colors.
• Chicago
• Sturgeon Bay
• Door County
• Minneapolis
• Wisconsin
• Main Street
• America
• Lake Michigan
• New York
• Green Bay
• Cana Island
• Omaha

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. LaVyrle Spencer (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813

Notes for Parents edit see section history

No specific sex scenes, suitable for older teens.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary