By Kristin Hannah
The story is familiar. He brings in the money; she's the family and community anchor. Between shuttling their perfect kids to and from a variety of intellectually and athletically stimulating activities, Elizabeth occupies her time beautifying the house and garden and putting together the annual (pick one or more) library auction, symphony fund-raiser, block party. Then, when the kids are grown, she and her husband, Jackson, look at each other and realize that love is no longer the reason they're together.
In fast-moving prose punctuated by snappy asides ("The details of their life were hers. He got to throw the game-winning passes. She got to take tickets and clean the stadium"), Hannah examines whether love and commitment are enough to sustain a marriage when two people who have put their individual dreams on ice get the chance to defrost them. Unlike most stories about middle-aged love, Distant Shores doesn't patronize with either pat answers or man-bashing. (Ballantine, $22.95)
Bottom Line: Shore bet
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