What happens when, after twenty-four years of marriage, the wife suddenly realizes that she has lost pieces of herself along the way?
It’s not an unusual story, given the nature of marriage. But Elizabeth Shore did have dreams, once upon a time. And it’s not as if she can actually blame her husband Jack, since she hasn’t spoken up or protested enough when they ended up moving repeatedly to follow his dreams.
But something inside Elizabeth clicks when Jack takes a job in NY, and their beautiful home, to which Elizabeth feels especially connected, is in Oregon.
Their girls are grown and in college, so Elizabeth’s decision not to follow Jack seemingly affects only the two of them. But she is wrong about that.
I felt something like a little “click” of my own as I read Distant Shores: A Novel, with the beautifully constructed women characters in Elizabeth’s “passionless” women’s group. A group about rediscovering the passion that ignited them all once upon a time. I also liked how Elizabeth finally connected with her once-disdained stepmother Anita after her father’s death. And the secrets about her own mother that helped turn the tide in her quest.
One woman’s journey of self-discovery kept me turning those pages, and even though the plot felt a bit predictable, I did enjoy the search and the chance to reconnect with one’s bliss.
Four stars.
