The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs

I did not last even a day with the age old resolution of cutting back. I seemed to have done just the reverse .  The fact that this genre is lighter on the mind ( but still heavy on the heart for the most part ( I rhymed!)). These eloquent sentences summed up act as a prelude to the second review of the day.

Susan Wiggs was not an author I liked (previously) as much as Susan Mallory when I started reading this brand of chicklit. That might probably because the tone of the former’s tale is slightly more serious than that of the latter author( I am rectifying that error now). The lives of the central characters seem to be more serious and dire situations mentally and emotionally than a lighter brand of romace. This book aimed at revealing such a family.

The family of Steve Bennett consists of his wife and three intelligent and smart kids, the story is of little more than six months of their life at Steve’s latest posting and deployment.

The book did not start off in a grand fashion and the initial US navy talk was a little hard to grasp at the speed the situation seemed to be unravelling. Then the story goes back six months to show us why we were looking at such a situation in the first place. This flashback for me is when the book actually begins. It shows a woman content on the outside with being a mother and navy wife for twenty years now trying to reconcile with the image of herself that she sees when she looks into a mirror. There is a lot of work required to keep the delicate balance of family steady and there seem to be changes which might rock the boat. All the women introduced in the book have something that can be admired and some of the men also do. This book is all about people and relationships and a beautiful read.