Inheritances
Perhaps the most important theme in How Strange A Season is inheritances. In one story, a family inherits an all-glass house that is near a cliff in a treacherous part of California. Another family inherits a ranch that is starved of water. They neither want nor need the headache that is the ranch but must deal with it because they inherit it. In another story, a peach farmer must deal with a drought that is wreaking havoc on his crop. His crop is his livelihood. Without it, he cannot live, so he does everything he can to save his inheritance that is his crop.
Living in dangerous places on Earth
In one of the most memorable stories in the novel, a family lives in an all-glass house near a cliff in California. One false move could mean that family's death or if they are lucky, a severe injury. And their house, which allows anyone to look inside of it because it is made entirely of glass, allows them to be easily hurt, or injured, or killed because of their behavior. Because they live in a dangerous place, they change the way they live their lives for good and for bad.
Appreciating the beauty of Earth
Another significant theme in Bergman's novel is appreciating the beauty of Earth. Many of the characters in each of the short stories in How Strange a Season try to overcome their troubles and broken hearts. One woman establishes a terrarium to appreciate the beauty of the flowers in the world. Another woman swims through water to deal with her unruly husband, who demands that she chooses the days that she swims and keeps to herself and the days that she becomes the housewife her husband wants. The Earth and its qualities, in other words, is a way for the characters in many of the stories to let out their frustrations and heal from their wounds.
