When a flight crashes in the Pacific Ocean, leaving no survivors, airline Captain Connor Evans has no clue that it will change his life. Only after one of the will of one stewardess is read does he learn that he has a son. The child’s mother wants him to take two weeks to get to know the boy, but will Connor’s family accept the proof of his infidelity?
As Connor learns the results of his indiscretion – an indiscretion he had long since put behind him – he struggles with the problems that it will cause. His wife, who he loves dearly, is hurt to find out he broke their marriage vow so many years ago. His young daughters are confused by the intrusion of a child explained to be ‘a family friend’. And poor Max must leave his home in Hawaii to visit the friend of his mother’s that he never met, but soon begins to wish might become his new father.
The three pivotal players in the drama – Connor, his wife Michele, and the recently orphaned child, Max – each struggle with different emotions. At seven, Max is innocent of his relationship to Connor. He must leave his home and best friend to come visit a family he has never met, nor has any wish to see. But the alternative is to live in foster care, as the chances for his adoption are slim.
Michele wakes up to learn that her husband had an affair years ago. Hurt, troubled, and grieving for problems solved years before, she has a hard time welcoming Max into her home. Despite her Christian inclinations, she cannot comfort the grieving child, and indeed, responds harshly to him.
Connor, meanwhile, struggles between the joy of having a son and the trouble the child’s presence causes his marriage. For years, he has rationalized and justified his behavior as something ‘anyone’ might do. Only after Max arrives does he realize how deeply he has hurt his wife, and how badly he has wronged her.
In a touching novel that had me bawling from the first emotional chapter, Karen Kingsbury draws us into the confusion and pain of a broken marriage vow. She makes us take another look at what it means to forgive, and what it means to truly ask forgiveness. And she reminds us that even innocent lives can be touched when we act outside of what we know to be right. Oceans Apart tells a touching story of a young boy who must draw a broken family together.
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Oceans Apart
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