A midlife marital crisis threatens the stability of a squeaky-clean navy family in Wiggs's latest, which overcomes a listless, saccharine start thanks to a rousing finale aboard an aircraft carrier. Steve and Grace Bennett look like the perfect military couple: Steve, a former pilot, has become an ambitious officer, and Grace successfully cares for their three bright, talented kids while he's deployed. But rips appear in the marriage fabric when Grace, seeking more in life, starts a relocation business, begins a fitness program and buys a small but lovely house near the Seattle base they temporarily call home. Wiggs's light, engaging style keeps the story moving in the first half, despite too many syrupy family scenes and a far-fetched subplot in which Josh, a fledgling pilot under Steve's command, is revealed to be his long-lost son from a brief, ill-advised teen marriage. This revelation widens the gap between Grace and Steve, who never told her about wife number one, and Wiggs balances their turmoil with a subplot involving their oldest daughter, Emma, and a hunky but predatory high school boy whose father is Steve's boss. But the tension isn't all emotional: Josh goes on a training exercise that nearly turns deadly, and Steve, trying to stop a deadly fire aboard his aircraft carrier, gets swept overboard into the icy Pacific. While Wiggs tends to nip suspense in the bud and linger on overripe romantic sentiments, her characters are sympathetic and her tale of frayed loves mended is sure to strike a responsive chord in a maturing audience. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
The Ocean Between Us
Narrated by Joyce Bean
Susan WiggsUnabridged — 12 hours, 58 minutes
The Ocean Between Us
Narrated by Joyce Bean
Susan WiggsUnabridged — 12 hours, 58 minutes
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Overview
Steve Bennett can't understand the unraveling of his wife's heart. He wants to set things right, but when a secret from his past is revealed just as he's sent out to sea, their already-strained relationship is pushed to the edge. Now, with plenty of space to ponder the true distance between them, Grace begins to reinvent herself.
Just as her new self is coming to terms with her family life, the unthinkable happens. A disaster aboard Steve's ship shatters Grace's world and all she can do is gather her children around and wait for news to come, good or bad. A navy wife's worst nightmare collides with the cold truth that life's biggest chances can slip away while you're busy looking for guarantees.
With sensitivity and insight, #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs explores the emotional rewards and sacrifices of love and marriage in this sweeping novel.
Editorial Reviews
There's a mishap aboard the carrier Dominion: Ordinanceman Michael Rivera is badly burned when a flare explodes on deck, and Capt. Steve Bennett goes overboard while trying to remove the damaged cylinder. Lt. Josh Lamont and his men are waved off from landing their Prowler (an all-weather aircraft) and must eject when the plane goes out of control. This latest novel by Wiggs (Home Before Dark) opens at sea, then moves to those left behind at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington State and further still to nine months before the fateful day. How did Steve and his wife, Grace, come to the disconnect that was on his mind when he approached the flares? Josh was a "nugget" (fairly new pilot), but did thinking about Lauren, to whom he had proposed, make him negligent? Could Grace continue to accept the life of a navy wife when she had goals of her own? And where do Grace and Steve's three children find their lives headed? Readers will be swept up in the struggles of these individuals as they face the challenges of military service and its familial repercussions. We learn as much about the minefields of marriage and relationships as we do about navy regs and procedures. This engrossing novel will keep readers turning the pages. Recommended for all fiction collections; fans of TV's JAG will find it especially rewarding.-Bette-Lee Fox, "Library Journal" Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
"Her characters are sympathetic and her tale of frayed loves mended is sure to strike a responsive chord in a maturing audience."
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940172647437 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Brilliance Audio |
| Publication date: | 01/31/2013 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
The Ocean Between Us
By Susan Wiggs
Thorndike Press
Copyright © 2004 Susan WiggsAll right reserved.
ISBN: 0786266716
Chapter One
MishapMishap: Unplanned or unexpected event causing personal injury, occupational illness, death, material loss or damage, or an explosion of any kind whether damage occurs or not.
(NAVAL AVIATION SAFETY PROGRAM)
USS Dominion (CVN-84) 0037N 17820W
Speed 33 2215 hours (Time Zone YANKEE)
Steve Bennett glanced at the clock on his computer screen. He ought to be in his rack and sleeping soundly. Instead, he sat with his feet propped on the edge of the workstation, hands clasped behind his head while he stared at a scenic Washington State calendar and thought about Grace.
He was ten thousand miles from home, on an aircraft carrier in the middle of an unofficial communications blackout instigated by Grace herself. His wife. The mother of his children. The woman who had not spoken to him willingly since he'd been deployed.
She had maintained radio silence like a wartime spy. He received official communiquis about the children, and sometimes the occasional report that made him regret giving her power of attorney. But never more than that.
The cruise was nearly over, and for the first time in his career Steve felt apprehensive about going home. He had no idea whether or not they could put their marriage back together again.
"Captain Bennett?" Anadministrative officer stood in the doorway with a clipboard in one hand and a PDA in the other.
"What is it, Lieutenant Killigrew?"
"Ms. Francine Atwater is here to see you, sir."
Bennett hid a frown. He'd nearly forgotten their appointment. In the belly of a carrier there was no day or night, just an unrelenting fluorescent sameness, stale recycled air and the constant thunder of flight ops rattling through the steel bones of the ship.
"Send her in." He unfolded his long frame and stood, assuming the stiff and wary posture schooled into him by twenty-six years in the Navy. Killigrew left for a moment, then returned with the reporter. Steve would have preferred to use the public affairs office on the 01 deck, but apparently Ms. Atwater was adamant about exploring every facet of carrier life. It was, after all, the era of the embedded reporter.
Francine Atwater. Francine. A member of the "new media," eager to take advantage of the military's newly relaxed information policy. According to his briefing notes, she had arrived COD - carrier onboard delivery - and intended to spend the next two weeks in this floating city with its own airport. Both the skipper of the Dominion and Captain Mason Crowther, Commander of the Air Group, had welcomed her personally, but they'd quickly handed her off to others, and now it was Steve's turn.
"Ms. Atwater, I'm Captain Steve Bennett, Deputy Commander of the Air Group." He tried not to stare, but she was the first civilian woman he'd seen in months. In a skirt, no less. He silently paid tribute to the genius who had invented nylon stockings and cherry-colored lipstick.
"Thank you, Captain Bennett." Her glossy lips parted in a smile. She was a charmer, all right, the way she tilted her head to one side and looked up at him through long eyelashes. Still, he detected shadows of fatigue under her carefully made-up eyes. Newcomers to the carrier usually suffered seasickness and insomnia from all the noise.
"Welcome aboard, ma'am."
"I see you've been briefed about me," she said, indicating his notes from the PAO.
"Yes, ma'am."
"What a surprise. Everyone on this ship has. I swear, the U.S. Navy knows more about me than my own mother. My blood type, shoe size, visual acuity, sophomore-year biology grade -"
"Standard procedure, ma'am." Even in lipstick and nylon stockings, the media held no appeal to the military. Still, he respected the way she stood her ground, especially while wearing three-inch heels. Civilians were advised on practical shipboard attire, but apparently no one had wanted Francine to change her shoes.
A tremendous whoosh, followed by a loud thump, rocked the ship. She staggered a little, and he put out a hand to steady her.
"Tell me I'll get used to that," she said.
"You'd better. We're launching and recovering planes around the clock, day and night. It's not going to stop." He slid open a desk drawer and took out a sealed plastic package. "Take these. I always keep plenty on hand."
"Earplugs?" She slipped the package into her briefcase.
"Thanks."
He motioned her to a chair and she sat down, setting aside her bag. She took out a palm-size digital recorder, then swept the small space with a glance that shifted like a radar, homing in on the few personal items in evidence. "You have a beautiful family."
"Thank you, ma'am. I think so."
"How old are your children?"
"Brian and Emma are twins. They're seniors this year. Katie's in ninth grade. And that's Grace, my wife." A world of pain and hope underlay his words, but he prayed the reporter wouldn't notice. Every day he looked at that picture and tried to figure out what would fix this. He'd never deceived his wife before, so he didn't know how to undo the damage he'd caused. An ordinary husband would go home, take her out to dinner and say, "Look, honey. The truth is ..." But Bennett couldn't do that from the middle of the ocean.
And sometimes he wondered if he even wanted to, damn it.
He'd done his best to keep her from being hurt, but she didn't seem to appreciate that.
In the photo, taken at Mustang Island when they were stationed in Corpus Christi, the four of them were laughing into the camera, sunburned faces glowing.
"This is a great shot," said Ms. Atwater. "They look like the kind of people nothing bad ever happens to."
Interesting observation. He would have agreed with her, right up until this deployment. Grace and the kids were part of the all-American family, the kind you saw on minivan commercials or at summer baseball games.
"What's it like, being away from them for months on end?"
What the hell did she think it was like? A damned fraternity party?
Continues...
Excerpted from The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs Copyright © 2004 by Susan Wiggs. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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