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| Plot Summary of Gifts From The Sea |
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"
Signet, Dec 2001, 5.99, 336 pp.
ISBN: 0451294786
In the days of the thriving whaling industry, the residents of Truro, Massachusetts survive by recovering cargo from the shipwrecks near their Cape Cod community. Rachel Best and her husband Richard have lived in Truro all their lives. He knows the nearby Atlantic Ocean as well as anyone, but when he disappears at sea, everyone else concludes he died. Rachel refuses to believe her spouse is dead so every morning regardless of the weather she walks to the ocean expecting Richard to return.
Sea Captain Jared Mitchell has wanted to die ever since he blamed himself for the accidental deaths of his wife and daughter. Unable to cope, he tries a strange suicide by commanding his whaling crew maroon him in the sea. The ocean fails to listen to his plea; so on a cold autumn day, Rachel finds the whaleboat containing the half-dead Jared. She and her family nurse Jared back to health. Jared falls in love with Rachel who begins to reciprocate, but she feels guilty because she still believes Richard is coming home.
GIFTS FROM THE SEA is an insightful American romance that is excellent when it concentrates on a second chance at love though closure from the previous relationship has not occurred. When the novel meanders into unnecessary subplots, it loses some of its wallop. Jared is a compassionate hero while Rachel is more difficult to accept because her marriage was not a happy one so why one wonders why she loyally clings to a memory. Still when Jane Goodger keeps the love story of the lead couple front and center, readers receive a wonderful historical romance.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Gifts From The Sea |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of story
- 19th century
Inner struggle subplot
Yes
Struggle with...
- (general) search for identity/new understanding
- angst over dead lover
Hidden Identity/Secret Motive
Yes
Caretaker, in love with
Yes
Falling in love with
- Homecaring friend
Main Male Character
Profession/status:
- small businessman
Age/status:
- 20's-30'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
- average physique
Main Female Character
Age/status:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- homemaker
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
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
What % of story is romance related?
- 80%
Focus of story
- equally on him and her
How much dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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