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Distant Shores
Kristin Hannah Book Review

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Plot Summary of Distant Shores
"
Kristin Hannah
Ballantine, Jun 2002, 22.95, 352 pp.
ISBN: 034545071X

Forty-five years old Elizabeth feels her marriage to former Superbowl MVP Jackson Shore is failing as she feels she has lost her identity to her children and her spouse. With the kids in college, Elizabeth needs something else to overcome the empty nest syndrome and her perception of lost purpose, but concludes that her relationship to Jack is not the answer to her needs. Jack has his problems too as he threw away a golden opportunity in the broadcast booth due to drug abuse and is struggling one step at a time towards redemption.

Jack obtains the break he needs when Portland, Oregon station intern Sally Maloney provides him a tip on a story involving college basketball superstar Drew Grayland. As he seeks collaborating proof on Drew's wrongdoing including date rape, his own marriage is collapsing. As Jack breaks the Drew story, Elizabeth withdraws further from him. Is this marriage between two college sweethearts over or will they find a path to happiness together?

This is an insightful middle age relationship tale that goes deep inside the psyche of the two lead characters, in which love no longer fosters communication. The story line takes the reader inside the head mostly of the disenchanted Elizabeth, but also provides a chance to see what motivates a disgraced former golden boy to seek his former glory. Though the ending is a bit too idealistic for the tone of the plot, fans of powerful dramas with strong characters will want to read Kristin Hannah's DISTANT SHORES.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Distant Shores
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Plot
Time/era of story - Present (2000-2010)
Searching/Rekindling love? Yes
Lost Lover: - rekindling love after long time

Main Male Character
Profession/status: - journalist
Age/status: - 40's-50's
How sexual is this person? - very picky
How romantic is this person? - somewhat romantic
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Female Character
Age/status: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - homemaker
How sexual is this person? - very picky
How romantic is this person? - somewhat romantic
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Pacific NW

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
What % of story is romance related? - 60%
Focus of story - equally on him and her
How much dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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