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A River in the Ocean
When a near-fatal accident separates a single father from his daughter, fate has a way of finding her a good home. While Chris fights for his life in a coma for nine years, his daughter Krista is raised by a well-intentioned couple who have no idea how to raise a child properly. Gilmer has wild ideas that he doesn’t think through. Maggie knows the basics and figures the rest out as she goes. But there is one thing they have in common, the love for the little girl who stole their hearts while her father was absent.When Chris awakens from his coma, his amnesia keeps him from remembering he has a daughter. Putting his life back together, he takes to furniture repair and then design. But, he picks up a paintbrush one day when an apparition of a little girl soon starts haunting him even while he is awake. He captures scenes of her on canvas, but can’t figure out what connection they have. While he paints who he has affectionately been calling Angel, she becomes more and more real to him.Years go by, and Chris has developed an entire life with a girl he knows only through paintings. He keeps them locked up in a secret room while his other paintings have gained notoriety throughout the art community as the “Insider’s Secret.” The exposure he is getting brings him face to face with Maggie and a teenage girl named Krista. Something strange suddenly stirs in both of them.It’s a heartwarming tale about two lost souls. Only one feels it, and the other has yet to know. He didn’t know he was looking. She didn’t know she needed found.
297 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 4, 2013
3 people want to read
About the author
Michael Allen
4 books9 followersMichael Allen is an author and screenwriter who tells stories that live in the gray space between truth and trouble. His books—The Deeper Dark, Joker Joker Deuce, and A River in the Ocean—explore the moments people don’t talk about but never forget. With a style that’s raw, cinematic, and deeply human, Michael creates characters who feel real long after the final page.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 19, 2014
Chris and Krista (Kissy) are a father and daughter who were separated by a terrible accident. While Chris lies in a coma that will last for nine years, 5-year-old Kissy is found and taken in by moonshiner Gilmer and his wife Maggie.
Kissy, lost and traumatized by her father's absence only remembers her name and her only possession is a locket Chris gave her.
When Chris awakes from the coma he has no memory of his past life. A social worker, Janet, goes to bat for him. She helps him collect an insurance policy, whittle down his hospital bill, and she finds him a place to begin a new life. Chris begins as a craftsman, designing and constructing furniture. A local entrepreneur, Amy, finds sales outlets for his furniture.
As Chris builds his furniture, he begins to have visions of a young child. Although the child seems to connect to his life, he doesn't know why. He names her "Angel" and anticipates her frequent visits. Angel leaves him with a poem, a way to summon her and to remember her. He begins to paint her as she appears in his visits. Angel grows in her visions until she reaches the age of 14. Then the visits slow down.
Amy 'catches' him painting and to keep the secret of "Angel", Chris also begins painting stills and landscapes for Amy to sell.
Chris's story frequently breaks away to tell Krista's story. Maggie and Gilmer are quite colorful characters and their life with Krista is full of love and laughter. However, they keep Krista a secret from the world and have some unconventional ways of parenting.
Transitions between Chris's story and Krista's are often abrupt. Some of the vocabulary seems out of place. The author uses strong words like stunned and astonished and wide eyes frequently and in calmer situations than would initiate surprise.
Some of the structure seems misplaced such as one passage that begins, "Maggie’s eyes grew red, and then tears started to stream down her cheeks." when actually, it is crying that reddens the eyes.
I wished there was more back story on Maggie and Gilmer, not only because they were quite interesting, but also to better understand why they kept Krista hidden away and how they were able to be successful at doing it.
I also wished for a little better character development of the minor characters Janet and Amy. Letting us at least know Chris's feelings towards them would have made some of the story less awkward.
Although the book could have used a good editor, even with some flaws it is well worth the read. The author ties events together nicely. The story is an interesting one that has some supernatural overtones reminiscent of The Portrait of Jennie and Girl on a Swing, two of my favorites.
(My personal guide for ratings are as follows: 5 stars, equal to any book of its genre, better than most; 4 stars, content that easily moves past a few formatting errors that do little or nothing to impact it, still highly recommended; 3 stars, technical errors or format choices impaired the flow of the book although I did enjoy the content. 2 stars, I struggled with the book due to either technical errors and/or a concept that was trite or underwritten. 1 star signifies a book that I abandoned before finishing due to structural errors in either plot or mechanics.)
Kissy, lost and traumatized by her father's absence only remembers her name and her only possession is a locket Chris gave her.
When Chris awakes from the coma he has no memory of his past life. A social worker, Janet, goes to bat for him. She helps him collect an insurance policy, whittle down his hospital bill, and she finds him a place to begin a new life. Chris begins as a craftsman, designing and constructing furniture. A local entrepreneur, Amy, finds sales outlets for his furniture.
As Chris builds his furniture, he begins to have visions of a young child. Although the child seems to connect to his life, he doesn't know why. He names her "Angel" and anticipates her frequent visits. Angel leaves him with a poem, a way to summon her and to remember her. He begins to paint her as she appears in his visits. Angel grows in her visions until she reaches the age of 14. Then the visits slow down.
Amy 'catches' him painting and to keep the secret of "Angel", Chris also begins painting stills and landscapes for Amy to sell.
Chris's story frequently breaks away to tell Krista's story. Maggie and Gilmer are quite colorful characters and their life with Krista is full of love and laughter. However, they keep Krista a secret from the world and have some unconventional ways of parenting.
Transitions between Chris's story and Krista's are often abrupt. Some of the vocabulary seems out of place. The author uses strong words like stunned and astonished and wide eyes frequently and in calmer situations than would initiate surprise.
Some of the structure seems misplaced such as one passage that begins, "Maggie’s eyes grew red, and then tears started to stream down her cheeks." when actually, it is crying that reddens the eyes.
I wished there was more back story on Maggie and Gilmer, not only because they were quite interesting, but also to better understand why they kept Krista hidden away and how they were able to be successful at doing it.
I also wished for a little better character development of the minor characters Janet and Amy. Letting us at least know Chris's feelings towards them would have made some of the story less awkward.
Although the book could have used a good editor, even with some flaws it is well worth the read. The author ties events together nicely. The story is an interesting one that has some supernatural overtones reminiscent of The Portrait of Jennie and Girl on a Swing, two of my favorites.
(My personal guide for ratings are as follows: 5 stars, equal to any book of its genre, better than most; 4 stars, content that easily moves past a few formatting errors that do little or nothing to impact it, still highly recommended; 3 stars, technical errors or format choices impaired the flow of the book although I did enjoy the content. 2 stars, I struggled with the book due to either technical errors and/or a concept that was trite or underwritten. 1 star signifies a book that I abandoned before finishing due to structural errors in either plot or mechanics.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review